Here’s a handy guide for planning and running a campaign to reduce single-use plastics

1. Find and Investigate Your Cause

  1. Interested in single use plastics, specific items that damage your region (bags? Styrofoam? Plastic ribs?). Narrow your scope down to a specific issue/item that you can tackle and research, or go big and choose all single-use plastics!
  2. Connect with other activists in your area! Try and look for groups around your city that are campaigning for similar issues, or look for those in your peer group who feel strongly about the things you support. Look for environmental groups that are locally centralized and have connections to your community (grassroots organisations)
  3. Investigate Local Laws – check to see what bylaws apply in your area that could aid in pursuit of your goals.
  4. Set up social media pages for your group ( or get your teacher/mentor to do this) Everything you do should be posted here, along with relevant photos.
  5. Design a logo and motto for your group for example Ban the Bag Victoria

2. Get A Group Together

  1. This will be a lot of work and a long road, so having people by your side is really helpful; you need a team!
    1. Try getting a group together at your school or amongst your friends if school isn’t an option, though it is better
    2. Get an enthusiastic teacher to help you with your cause, since they are above 18 years old can and they are generally more experienced they can help guide you and steer you away from bad decision, such as questionable partnership offers
    3. If you can’t find a teacher willing to help you reach out to a local group with similar and establish a close relationship so you can go to them for advice and direction on a regular basis
  2. Reach out to other successful groups and youths in your area, province or even across Canada and ask for advice or guidance; you should keep doing this throughout the entire process
  3. Don’t be afraid to approach youths from different age groups, everyone can bring something powerful to the cause and younger kids especially can be incredibly passionate and dedicated and should never be underestimated

3. Your school

  1. Start the process in your own school first
  2. Educate yourself- it is vital that you are an expert as you will get asked questions by the public and media. Resources on Plastic Oceans Canada website and UN documents are an excellent source of information.
  3. Educate the student and teacher body through presentations, this can also help start a conversation about plastics and inspire your school to make changes
    1. Show the Plastic Oceans documentary
    2. Show video of remote beach clean-up to show impact in Canada and especially if you live on Vancouver Island/B.C. where the video was filmed (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RDMb5X82ef8)
  4. Minimize your school’s plastic usage, focus on areas where plastics are used most such as the cafeteria
  5. Other teachers or students may be inspired to join your group and general support from your school is invaluable when you take your initiative further
  6. Organise school beach cleanups if you live on the coast or lake. These are great ways to motivate. Trips to the local landfill will also motivate the student body by showing them the amount of plastic that is thrown away. Make sure that all the actions within the school are posted on social media. Make a twitter hashtag.

4. Level of government

Identify the level of government you would like to be working at, it will dramatically change the way you approach the political aspect of the problem. Educate yourself about the legislative process and the kinds of laws possible at each level.

  1. Either municipal, provincial or federal.
  2. Municipally, the law may be challenged by the plastic industry and potentially overturned but it’s still a great place to start (you just have to present the changes as “waste management,” if the municipal act in your province does not allow for environmental bylaws. Provincially there is less chance the law can be challenged by industry so long as you present the changes as environmentally-motivated.
  3. Federal change is tricky as you need a massive network of people from across the country dedicated to the cause and we wouldn’t recommend it for your first campaign unless your local MP is willing to work with you.
  4. Municipal
  5. Address your city council
    1. First decide if you will be presenting as an independent activist or with a group (groups often streamline presentations).
    2. Check on your local council’s website, go to their offices and directly ask to apply for a position or check for their mailing
      address and mail in an application.
    3. After applying for your speaking position, build a presentation about what the single use problem means in regard to your group (youth perspective is often beneficial!), your community, and its impacts on the global environment at large.
    4. You will be timed and kept to the time so prepare for this (usually about 5 minutes)
  6. Alternatively, speak with specific council members if you have access to them, such as your mayor. This can incentivise further voting action in the future or aid in making more council members aware of the problem.

Provincial

  1. Contact your MLA to have your voice heard. Recommended timing is 30 minutes or over to ensure that you have sufficient time for discussing the issue
  2. The MLA is obligated to meet with you if you reside in their riding.
  3. As with federal MP’s, present information in letters as opposed to emails.

Federal

  1. Will need to contact MPs to work with on the problem. Research which ones are supportive of your stance on the issue and
    contact them
  2. The MP in your riding is legally obligated to meet with you, take advantage of this
    1. Recommend going with a few people to strengthen your case (and for moral support, can be intimidating)
    2. Recommended time is circa 30 minutes
  3. Send letters, not emails. They’re legally obligated to file them, emails can be deleted
  4. If you send signatures from a petition, send in batches not all at once, will ensure continuously capturing attention, and letting know that this issue will not simply go away

General tip: politicians are sometimes reluctant to act, you must plan out the law
and come to them with public support already behind the issue

5. Community Outreach and/ Awareness

It is essential to start this process at the beginning of your campaign so that you can demonstrate community and business support when you address law-makers.

Some preliminary notes

  1. Politicians are really reluctant to do something without public support
  2. This step remains the same regardless of which level of government you are tackling and it takes the longest, it may take from one up to two years, depending on how open and large the community you are targeting is
  3. You should do this before, during, and after talking to whatever politician (MP or MLA) or council you need to
  4. Make a concise brochure containing some necessary information about the issue and the change you are proposing. This can be left with businesses that you visit.
  5. Public Education
  6. Educating the community about the issue will help garner more support in the long run!
  7. Present to as many community associations, community groups, and events as you possibly can–word will get out!
  8. Eventually, have petition signing sessions, which are usually done at a booth either in a market, festival or outside a store (with the store’s permission). Find a flagship business that is already making changes, and that will be willing to support you. Make sure you contact media about any events you attend.

School and Youth Education

  1. Contact local schools in your area and ask to present to them about your cause
  2. Give presentations following the format of the one described previously for you to do in your own school
  3. Q & A sessions are also very valuable as questions may be asked that you had previously not thought of
  4. If other passionate students are interested in helping you don’t be afraid to grow your group!

Business Outreach

  1. Businesses include stores, restaurants and take-out stores
  2. Throughout this process make sure businesses are made aware of affordable alternatives
  3. Get a flagship store
    1. Find a store in your area which is already supports your cause
    2. Create a partnership where you use them to further strengthen your cause to other businesses
    3. This will also help you spread the cause
  4. Go door to door and talk to businesses directly about the issue
    1. Ask to talk to the owner or the manager
    2. Explain the impacts of plastics then go onto discuss the benefits for business becoming more environmentally friendly and ask for their support (ex. get the owner or manager to sign a letter stating their support)
    3. Leave a brochure with each business containing the important information they will need.
    4. What do you do if you get a negative response at a store?
      1. A negative contact can be used positively
      2. If you remain calm and composed you cannot lose
      3. If this exchange takes place in front of customers it can rebound on them and make them lose support
      4. There can be a lot to learn from it
      5. The story can help fuel your cause in the future and can be mentioned for media purposes
    5. TIP: Avoid talking to big supermarket chains (or chains in general)
      1. Employees at the store have no real control over bigger policy changes
      2. Changing their plastic usage would be a whole other issue, however you can get individual students at your school to write letters (avoid emails) and send them to the head office in small batches over a longer period of time, which will snag their attention on this issue and continuously keep it fresh
  5. Make stickers and give them to businesses who support your cause, it’s extremely effective (and fun).
  6. Contact business associations in your local area and ask to present to them, it’s a good way to reach lots of stores in one presentation.

General population

  1. Reach out to the regular folks through presentations, information, events where environmental activism is a focus. Incentivise people to find creative solutions to the plastic problem.
    1. Feature local artists in bag designs
    2. Normalize and promote reusable plastic containers
    3. Even booth on the street (with adult supervision/parental consent) talking to individuals about the issue can make a difference

Note: It is important to incorporate a way to motivate people into this stage or even before. Otherwise getting them to take action will be difficult. Humans are very visual creatures, use photography, art, documentaries, etc. to get the message across.

6. Back to the politicians

  1. After you have done all this work of education, stakeholder outreach and community discussion and gained support, make sure you meet with an MP, MLA, or municipal council
  2. It’s best to speak to them regularly during the previous step if you can to keep this issue in their mind
  3. However once support is strong, make sure you meet with them to drive home the point that the big social change is effectively done (from education and outreach) and now it’s just the law that has to catch up or adjust to society

7. Final Tips To Remember

  1. You can’t do it alone
    1. Someone who you can ask questions to, a mentor
    2. Someone who can work alongside you ideally
  2. Have a plan
    1. Break everything down into small steps (makes it more manageable), you can use this guide as an example
  3. Incorporate things you are passionate about (ex. art, photography, sports to raise awareness or garner support)
  4. Use media well–it can have incredible power and can motivate people to act like nothing else
  5. Be relentless, determined, never give up!