Re-Drink: Reducing Community Plastic Use
This blog post was written by Zoe Welch, a 2026 Marine Plastics Ambassador.
The plastic pollution policy challenge I addressed was Hawaii Senate Bill 2205, a state-level bill that prohibits the sale of any beverage contained in single-use plastic beverage containers where the plastic beverage cap is not tethered to the single-use plastic beverage container when the plastic beverage cap is removed. It requires plastic beverage caps tethered or otherwise attached to the single-use plastic beverage containers to be the same plastic resin.
The goal of my campaign was to reduce community plastic use and encourage reusable alternatives, such as Eco Bricks. I was inspired to take action when I saw how much plastic marine debris was on the beaches of Hawaii, where I live. My project aligns with the goals of the Marine Plastics Ambassador Program by learning about policies and legislation in my state, as well as how to make change in my community.
I argue that not buying new plastic bottles is good for your budget, plastic is harmful to your health, and reusing plastic is easy.
The activities I attempted to organize were community cleanups and art work days. I was not able to complete this, as not enough people responded to the form I sent out. The officials I had planned to send petitions to were Senator Stanley Change and Senator Karl Rhoads. I made connections with both organizations, such as Sustainable Coastlines Hawaii and Malama Maunalua, though no plans ever came to fruition. I plan to continue my campaign and try harder to spread the message by making flyers, an Instagram account, and communicating with community members.
My campaign was not as successful as I had hoped and is currently not complete. I have three contacts so far and am currently working to find a time for a workshop day; I’ve had email exchanges with Sustainable Coastlines and Malama Maunalua, and I posted a flyer on my personal Instagram story. I plan to post the flyer around town to spread the message better and introduce the idea of sending petitions to senators during the community work day I will organize.
My biggest successes as a Marine Plastic Ambassador were learning from the various organizations through the virtual meetings. I was able to converse with fellow ambassadors across the country and learn about different plastic pollution issues. The biggest challenges that I encountered were bringing attention to my campaign and spreading the message in my community. I have not yet overcome these challenges but have plans to adjust and change my campaign to become more successful. I learned that everyone across the globe is influenced by plastic pollution in different ways. There are many different ways of dealing with the problem, and I learned most about policymaking and policy challenges.
I plan to continue this campaign and get more signatures, write more petitions, post more flyers, and make an Instagram account. I plan to try to reconnect with Sustainable Coastlines Hawaii for access to resources and other connections.
Learn more about the EarthEcho Marine Plastics Ambassadors at https://www.earthecho.org/plastics-ambassadors.