The Story of Plastic – Engage with a Change-Maker

Building community and getting to know the other people tackling plastic pollution in your area is a great way to join and strengthen the movement that already exists. Plus, it’s easier than starting from scratch on your own.  You can join their efforts, ask questions and get advice, and connect with their network to meet others who may have the same mission as you!

There are many different community groups who may be involved in preventing plastic pollution in their own unique way. This could be a person who is a volunteer, a community organizer, or someone who works for an organization or business that is addressing plastic pollution through their work. Some change-makers might even be your fellow students!

1. Find organizations, individuals or businesses who are already working to prevent plastic pollution. There are many listed by location in this Break Free From Plastic Member Map (scroll down to see member map) and in this Plastic Pollution Coalition list. Look for groups that sound interesting to you, or maybe you’ve heard of them and you want to learn more. If you can’t find a local group on these lists, try doing a Google search using keywords like “plastic pollution (insert your city or town’s name).” You can also reach out to any person, organization or business in the movement that you know of personally.
2. Email, call or write to start the conversation. Here are some ideas and questions you can use:

• Tell them about your support for the work they are doing.
• Ask them if they have opportunities for getting involved in their work as a volunteer, intern or employee. 
• Share some of the reasons why you care about creating a world free of plastic pollution.
• Ask them to share some of their techniques for engaging their community. 
• Ask them if they have any advice for how you can help them with their mission. 
• Share some of your own ideas you have for addressing plastic pollution.

Be respectful when you are reaching out, and remember, they may be pretty busy, so give them some time to get back to you. If you don’t hear back from them, that is ok! Rule of thumb is to send a friendly follow-up email if you haven’t received a reply within a week.

• Before contacting anyone, take some time to research a bit about their work so you can respect their time when asking questions.
• You can often find contact details on a website’s “Contact” page. 
• If you have your conversation over the phone, and you want to record the conversation so you can take notes after, just ask if it’s ok to record the conversation, and be sure to explain why you are asking.
• If you get stuck on your initial communication, email us at wayfinder@algalita.org, so we can help you out.

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Upload a copy of your email conversation, a picture of your letter, or a summary of your phone conversation.