Learning to work with legislators on a zero waste campaign

Passing legislation is a crucial component in the fight for zero waste. It’s also a complicated, opaque, and often frustrating process that can leave even the most seasoned organizers exasperated. GAIA has heard for years from our members that navigating this world is a uniquely difficult part of their campaigns.

On October 25, we invited legislative experts to a discussion on these issues. Yinka Bode-George, environmental health manager at the National Caucus of Environmental Legislators was joined by Kirstie Pecci, director of the zero waste program and a staff attorney at the Conservation Law Foundation. The conversation focused on plastic pollution and was moderated by GAIA’s Aditi Varshneya and built off GAIA’s Zero Waste Masterplan. The full session is available to view on YouTube.

Some of the most impactful campaigns for zero waste happen at the local level. But large-scale change requires legislation, which ​​States legislators are critical in shifting away from our culture of single-use and promoting a culture of product circularity — particularly at the onset of design. Also, state legislatures often act as laboratories for environmental policies and help inform federal efforts.” said Bode-George. Statewide policies help guide municipal policy and build a broader case for zero waste. But, said Pecci, it’s essential to first assess whether legislation is the best tactic to take in a given state.

She pointed to her home state of Massachusetts as an example, where over 9,000 bills are introduced each year, overwhelming legislators. Or New Hampshire, whose legislature is made up of over 400 part-time representatives who lean heavily conservative. In cases like these it’s often a better option to focus on the comparatively easier tactic of changing regulations.

If organizers go the legislative route, they must first understand how the legislative process works in their state. Since every state is fairly different in how power flows, Pecci suggested finding an expert like her or Bode-George who can advise organizers on pressure tactics particular to their legislature. She also stressed the importance of mobilizing officials at the local level to explain how plastic pollution impacts their community (and their budget). Since many state legislators begin their careers locally, they trust their former colleagues for guidance.

The core of advancing legislation, though, is developing relationships with legislators, which can be particularly intimidating to organizers new to the process. Here, both experts had much advice to share. Their first tip: remember that legislators are just regular people who, for the most part, want to change the world for the better.

But many need some help understanding how zero waste fits into that desire. “Your work as an organizer is to help legislators understand the policies themselves, and how health, justice and equity intersect with waste issues,” said Bode-George. She stressed the importance of using specific examples from legislators’ districts to illustrate the impact of policy. In the Mississippi River region, for instance, NCEL uses talking points about how agriculture and river health tie into environmental justice. Organizers can also encourage allied legislators to start a zero waste or related caucus, whose meetings can be a crucial place for education and building support for future bills.

Clear fact sheets, well-reported articles, and straightforward language about what makes good and bad policy are crucial to educating representatives.“Think about how you learn information,” said Bode-George. “Legislators are the same, because again, they’re just regular people.” For legislators new to the issues of plastic pollution, Pecci frequently shares a report from NPR detailing how the fossil fuel industry has always known plastic can’t be recycled.

She recounted the story of spending several hours around her kitchen table walking a legislator through the basics of the plastics crisis. “I explained to her all the reasons landfills were bad, and she responded with, ‘OK, so we should use incinerators instead?’” Pecci persisted, and the legislator came to understand that zero waste, not incineration, was the solution. “Legislators who know the least are often the most willing to learn,” Pecci said.

Usually, though, legislators are too busy campaigning and visiting their district to meet with organizers often. It’s often their staff doing the policy analysis and advising them, so organizers should focus on building and maintaining those relationships. Bode-George recommended using the legislative off-season to seek out meetings for policy briefings, since the legislative session is such a hectic and high-pressure time for politicians.

Above all, Pecci stressed, organizers need to maintain a friendly and positive attitude when working with legislators, even if those legislators are unpleasant. “You never know who you’re going to work with in the future, and legislators have a long memory of who says negative things about them.”

Both Bode-George and Pecci cautioned that the more successful organizers become, the more opposition they’ll face from lobbyists, who will swoop in to woo legislators with polished arguments that conceal the harms of the plastics industry.

If organizers have already prepared legislators for this onslaught, these tactics are more likely to fall flat. Legislators who have already reviewed fact sheets will be able to tell good bills from bad ones, and recognize industry attention as an attempt to kill the good ones. It’s also helpful to point to successful bills in other states, so that legislators don’t get confused or lose their nerve.

“Remember that lobbyists are working on this because they are making money,” Pecci encouraged. “You’re here because you are working on the most severe problems, and that mission resonates with a lot of legislators.”

That connection over shared values is ultimately the best tool that organizers have. Fact sheets are only as good as the narratives that organizers use them to support: that a just transition to zero waste will create good, green jobs in environmental justice communities, ensuring a healthier future that rights so many of the wrongs of the extractive fossil fuel economy. As Bode-George advised, “Always talk to legislators about how great our world can be when we center justice and equity.