Claire Hughes

About Claire

Claire is originally from the U.K. and came to Grand Cayman as a Scuba Diver Instructor back in 2002. She is the Head of Primary Physical Education at Cayman Prep and is an avid sailor, runner, and Mum of 2 children. She started Plastic Free Cayman as a grassroots movement in 2017 and it became a Not-for Profit Charitable Trust in 2018.

After watching ‘A Plastic Ocean’ I was horrified at the extent of plastic pollution globally and I took a closer look at how our beautiful island was being affected by it. When I first arrived on island you’d find bamboo, sea beans and sand dollars along the shoreline. My children now find plastic bottles, plastic cutlery, plastic toothbrushes, it's all plastic plastic plastic! It horrified me to think of the amount of plastic there must be in the ocean. I felt very helpless at first, then I was angry, and then strongly motivated to help be part of the solution. I started an online petition to ban single-use plastic bags in the Cayman Islands and from there started educating myself and others through social media and at school. I found determination to make a difference on our island home, to actually do something about this problem and strongly encourage others, no matter where they are, to do the same.