The Break Free From Plastic Pollution Act

 

The Break Free From Plastic Pollution Act is the most comprehensive policy to tackle the single-use plastic crisis. As an organizer on the plastics crisis, I often notice a disconnect between our work and the work on other movements. While the over-emphasis on things like the turtle and the straw video, straws alone, or just bags can and absolutely has resulted in tangible change, I think changing the narrative around this crisis will be essential for the longevity of the movement against it. 

Because of this, my action project was hosting a briefing and action hour on the Break Free From Plastic Pollution Act, and our main talking point for why people should support this, centered on climate change. Because we live in Florida, and our representative, Charlie Crist, has already cosponsored this bill, I decided to have attendees call five of their friends from their home state, and ask them to call their representative. You can check out our calling script here! The first part of this script is the ask for friends to take action, and the second half of this is the ask to the Representative. In this first section, folks essentially pitched their friends on taking action! I will talk more about storytelling below, but sharing your personal why is usually a huge motivator to get others involved. Because the average Eckerd student is 1,000 miles away from home, this method worked perfectly. 

The briefing (check it out!) was the bulk of this action hour and to me, felt like the most important for the long term. This briefing was created using slides from previous presentations I have given while adding a lot more information on plastics and climate specifically, myself as a human, and the BFFPPA. Being able to talk to other interested young people and give them the tools that will allow them to be their own effective activists on this issue was really the main goal aside from promoting the bill. I took a slightly different approach to how I usually give action briefings. Instead of jumping right into the content, I began with a short story of who I am. As Stoknes points out, the narratives we tell around global warming inform what we think about the solutions, (Stokens 2019), so, I wanted to tell my own story of how I went from caring about climate change to taking action specifically on plastic pollution in the name of climate. More on my personal story here! 

I also chose very specifically to reframe the plastics crisis as a climate one. Keeping in tune with Stoknes's ideas behind various frames we could take, I focus on the costs and sacrifices that would be made if we did not take action, as well as the sensibility behind making the necessary changes now. It was important throughout this process to recognize that there is a fine balance between strengthening two movements versus weakening them by combining them. There is power in being able to really focus on one aspect of a problem. I chose to do this and work with current youth activists mostly to show that these movements are not mutually exclusive, and by thinking of them in parallel, we can accomplish so much more. 

Lastly, I wanted to be sure to spend time in my briefing to be sure to explicitly state some of the key ways plastics are fueling climate change. Generally, the public knows little about the science behind climate change. There are debates about nearly every scientific fact, and the public, unlike scientists, has not reached a full consensus behind the issues (Weber & Stern, 2011). Earlier this semester, I conducted a microstudy that showed similar trends amongst self-identified youth climate activists as well. This was startling so, I felt it was important to break down the how as well as the why behind climate change and taking action. 

The Break Free From Plastic Pollution Act is still awaiting a vote in this year's legislative session. Head here to find your Representative or your Senator, and use the aforementioned call-in script (here) to chat with them! Lastly, head here for a comprehensive action toolkit on this bill. 

Ultimately, though I did not hit my goal of having 10 people come to the action hour, I was able to get 5 students to reach out to 5 of their peers. Thus, I was able to hit my general goal of getting youth activists to effectively communicate two issues together, and inspire themselves and others to take action. Communicating the plastics crisis as a key piece to the climate puzzle will be necessary to create a world that actually works for everyone. It will be critical to remember, however, that communication techniques deeply depend on audience and goals so, this method will not be suitable for the entirety of both of these movements. Still, this project allowed me to communicate this issue to people I knew were already passionate, and inspire them to take action in a new light. The resources provided in this post will hopefully allow you to do the same. 

References 

Weber, E., Stern, P. 2011. Public Understanding of Climate Change in the United States. American Psychologist Vol. 66, No. 4, 315–328. 

Stoknes, Per Espen. What We Think about When We Try Not to Think about Global Warming: Toward a New Psychology of Climate Action. Chelsea Green Publishing, 2015.