The Surfrider Foundation Maui Chapter (SFMC) partners with Project Reuse, a nonprofit founded by one of SFMC’s Executive Committee members, Suparna Vashisht.
The Project Reuse screening event on March 31, 2026, was intended as a pebble in a lake, creating ripple effects of action.
It's not just about the effect of the film, "We are all plastic people now" or the panel discussion—it's also what people did. SFMC and Project Reuse partnered up to provide postcards for the attendees and many of them took a few extra minutes to write to the Maui County Council, asking for continued and stronger action on plastic pollution. We left the event feeling fired up! Instead of mailing in the postcards after tallying them, we decided to hand deliver them to the @Maui County Council.
On April 14, local leaders Cheryl King (Sharkastics) and Petar Kovacic (EC member, SFMC), and Suparna Vashisht (Founder Project Reuse and EC member, SFMC), took those messages forward.
We knew the Council was deep in budget sessions but instead of waiting for a month, we met with Michele McLean, a senior aide in the Office of the Council Chair—and had a thoughtful, productive conversation. We handed over the postcards and a document summarizing why and how the council could act.
We talked about what our community is asking for:
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Stronger enforcement of Maui’s laudable “Upon Request Only” policy
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Making it easier for people to take their own containers to food outlets
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Reusables-only for onsite dining
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Phasing out single-use beverage containers less than one gallon
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Practical, proven solutions that have been implemented in other places that people in Maui are ready for.
What was encouraging is that it didn’t stop at the meeting.
Michele made sure our conversation reached Council leadership, had the postcards officially logged and shared, and even recommended a presentation and discussion in one of the county council committees once budget season wraps.
It’s a reminder that change can and does come from individuals showing up, speaking up, and following through.
If you’ve ever wondered whether small actions like writing a postcard matter—they absolutely do, they are the seed that grows into something big.
If you have any questions regarding the data please email hlilley@surfrider.org.
Prior to her role as Hawai`i Regional Manager and Maui Fire Response Coordinator with Surfrider Foundation, Hanna has had a long history in non-profit leadership and environmental conservation in Hawai`i. From a young age, she has been passionate about connecting diverse groups of people and building community through connection to the ocean and land stewardship. Raised on the East Coast, she spent nearly a decade teaching adaptive water sports to people living with disabilities for her family's nonprofit in Massachusetts. With a Bachelor's degree in Biology she moved out to Maui in 2013 where she spent the next decade working as a restoration technician and volunteer coordinator for a nonprofit working to restore a rare and endangered Hawaiian forest type on leeward Maui. In recent years, she’s become a competitive Hawaiian Outrigger Canoe paddler and spends most of her free time out on the ocean with her canoe club or doing downwinders in her OC1.