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We cannot fully tackle the plastic problem without a combination of individual action, government regulation, and private company innovation. This is starting to happen now as a grassroots movement of the people. Personal change is extremely important in making our world a better place, but individual action cannot spread if you don’t speak up. We need leaders to show how it is done. That means you!
Today’s Challenge: Vote! Protest! Activate! Educate! Do something to show how important it is that we all support our environment. Be the change you want to see. Pick one or two suggestions from the list below to do today, or come up with your own idea to take a stand.
- Register to vote and locate your nearest voting polls. Typically, you can at least start the process online. If you are already registered to vote, request absentee ballots so you are ready to go. In my state, you can go online and request to receive absentee ballots for just one election or for all elections until you tell them to stop sending you ballots. No excuses for missing voting day!
- Make sure you know who you are voting for. Read your local paper for candidate forums. Look at voting records. Red or blue, it doesn’t matter – support candidates that believe in science and actively want to help the environment. Local elections are often even more important than big national ones. You can go to Vote 411 to find out who is on your ballot and where they stand on issues.
- Write a letter to your current government representatives at all levels and ask them to vote for important environmental legislation.
- Join the Plastic Free Future Facebook Group
- See if your city, state, or region has a Zero Waste Group (a lot of times you can connect on Facebook). Some hold meetings, outings, clean-up projects, and more.
- Join your local environmental group. Even my small town has a sustainability committee and it is one of my goals to get more involved.
- Write a plan to start a green team at work
- Prepare a talk for your children’s school about ways that kids can make a difference.
- Make a poster for a climate strike. Typically there are protests in larger cities around Earth Day in April and global strikes have been spurred by activist Greta Thunberg. Right now, you can make your sign, take a picture and post it on social media with #climatestrikeonline or #digitalstrike
- If you have a product that you love, but hate the plastic packaging, write to the company asking them to make a change. If you are willing to temporarily give it up, tell them you won’t be able to support them until there is something better.
- Sign this petition to tell Coca Cola that you truly do want plastic alternatives, then share with others and ask them to sign too (here is another article to explain why).
- Post on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram a change that you have made as a result of this 90 day challenge. Spread the word!
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