Breakup with Toxic Plastic

This blog post was written by Mackenzie Messer, a 2025 Marine Plastics Ambassador.

My project, “Breakup with Toxic Plastic, focused on educating the community on the impacts of toxic plastic and encouraging them to take action to on plastic legislation related to plastic pollution and forever chemicals, such NC House Bill 882. Wilmington has dealt with historic PFAS pollution from plastic production and the community has been fighting for better clean water legislation. The influx of tourists and college students in the area also contributes to increased littering, most of which consists of plastic products. This community will greatly benefit from a bill that focuses on minimizing plastic pollution and production of products that contain toxic forever chemicals. This project allowed me to connect with my community and encourage them to rethink how they view plastic.

Mackenzie hosted a film screening featuring local experts and community leaders to raise awareness of the connection between plastic pollution and forever chemicals.

This project started with the creation of engaging social media content and a petition specifically for legislation on this issue. From July-September I used my connections to local non-profits to spread the word about my campaign, along with using educational yard signs to educate beachgoers about plastic litter on Wrightsville Beach. Two main activities took place during my campaign, a film screening of two local PFAS documentaries and a letter writing/trivia event in collaboration with NC Conservation Network. These events engaged around 15 community members and students to better understand the issue of toxic plastic. Some key partnerships included both Surfrider UNCW and Surfrider Cape Fear, Cape Fear River Watch, and NC Conservation Network. I was also able to share my petition in person at various tabling events, some taking place at Tidal Creek Co-Op, a local sustainable grocery store.

Mackenzie also hosted a letter writing event, showing community members how they can contact their legislators on issues that are important to them.

Project Impact

  • Event Attendees = 15 in-person
  • Petition Signatures
    • 87 physical signatures
    • 135 online signatures
    • 222 total signatures
  • Letter Writing Results
    • 16 letters written directly to New Hanover County Representatives
  • Social Media Exposure
    • Surfrider UNCW Instagram Followers: 2,672
    • Surfrider Cape Fear Instagram Followers: 3,922
    • Cape Fear River Watch Instagram Followers: 7,930
    • Total Exposure: 14,524 followers
  • Tabling Exposure
    • Two on-campus tabling events with NCCN (100+ students stopped by)
    • One Tidal Creek tabling event (20 signatures collected)
  • State Representative Engagement
    • Zoom Meeting with Representative Julia Greenfield (sponsor of HB 882)
    • One-pager detailing campaign sent to 7 other offices

I really enjoyed the Marine Plastics Ambassador program and I feel like it adequately prepared me for real-life advocacy work. I learned how to properly phrase certain issues to gain the most support and was able to build confidence when speaking with legislators. I did struggle with attendance for my in-person events, in the future I would promote the events much earlier and for longer. My project helped me grow as an ambassador and pushed me out of my comfort zone. I was able to connect with other organizations in the area and gain even more experience with event planning. Overall, the program taught me a lot and helped me build on skills I already had.

Outreach materials that Mackenzie created to share her campaign with community members.

I plan on continuing to advocate for plastic reduction in my community. My time spent as Surfrider UNCW president has also been filled with advocacy work and I plan on pursuing advocacy as a full-time career. As for this project, the NC General Assembly will not be working on new bills until 2027, according to Rep. Greenfield. Greenfield also mentioned having me assist on reworking HB 882 to hopefully get it passed into law. I plan on staying updated regarding state plastic legislation and hopefully being able to participate in the bill writing process. Any updates about local plastic policy will be posted to either Surfrider UNCW (@surfrideruncw) or Surfrider Cape Fear Instagram accounts.