How to be an Effective Citizen Lobbyist

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Maggie Clarke, Ph.D.

Manhattan Solid Waste Advisory Board

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2024 NYSAR³ Conference

Cooperstown, NY�

^{November 20, 2024}

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What can you accomplish�as a Citizen Lobbyist?

• Educate legislators, DEC, etc.
• Design / Advocate for bills
• Improve rules
• Increase budgets
• Increase enforcement
• Critique operations

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Narrow your focus

• What’s your passion?
• Choose a topic 🡪

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• Narrow further
• (what do you want to accomplish?)
• Specific Bill
• Budget $$
• Improve performance

• Pay as you throw
• Increasing Diversion
• Reuse
• Organics curbside collection
• More effective education
• Better enforcement
• Waste prevention
• Real Zero Waste
• Better studies, pilots
• Long Range Zero Waste plan
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Educate Yourself

• Critical to influencing others to your point of view
• Not only legislators, executives
• But also fellow activists and activist organizations

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• Read Up on your topic; go to conferences, meetings
• Reports, studies, articles, websites
• Find out what’s been done already by whom

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• Seek out others who share your passion

(Working in groups - far easier / necessary to effective lobbying)

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• Coalitions have formed and more are forming all the time. Find the ones who you align with to work on lobbying

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Organizations to Work With

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• In R³ do you want to work locally, statewide or nationwide? (Different groups)
• Locally: NYSAR³ ?, Manhattan and Brooklyn SWABs, Sierra Club, Lower East Side Ecology Center, NYC EJA, NRDC, NYPIRG, LCV, (CRAB?)

(some of these are membership & egalitarian, some not)

• Statewide: NYSAR³ legislative committee, Zero Waste New York, Beyond Plastics,

Environmental Advocates, Sierra Club

• National: National Recycling Coalition, Zero Waste USA, Sierra Club, Reuse International, US Zero Waste Business Council

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Influence others

• Join / work in the right organizations / committees.
• Suggest your topic as a goal for the organization (be specific as to what you want to accomplish)
• Volunteer to meet with legislators / agency ppl
• Suggest concrete steps towards achieving goal
• Write fact sheets
• Write testimony

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Other ways to keep up to date on what’s going on in your topic

• Listservs – GreenYes, Zero Waste International, NYSAR³

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• Magazines – Resource Recycling, MSW Management, WasteDive, etc.

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• LinkedIn groups
• Sierra Club, SWABs

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Meetings with Electeds, Agencies�

• Make Relationships!
• Testify at every hearing you can – make yourself known, respected
• Bring fact sheets, graphics to meetings
• Offer to submit legislative provisions, even create legislation
• Bring a few advocates with you to meetings on specific topics designed to educate, persuade
• Get agency contact to meet with you/ your organization on a regular basis to exchange info / point of view
• Work with legislators / committee chairs on questions to submit to agencies in hearings

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Hearings – How to Testify�

• Prepare! Well researched, well written testimony
• Justify with research what you’re asking for and why you are asking for it
• Create oral and written testimony – 2/3 mins. oral
• If virtual, sign up in advance, look and sound professional
• If in person, make enough copies of written testimony
• (20 or 30 single sided)

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At the Hearing

• Get there early, sign up to speak
• Get to know the ppl in the room
• Watch the agency and legislators Q&A
• Be prepared to insert new material into your oral testimony based on earlier agency testimony or Council questions/answers
• Deliver with as much eye contact as possible
• Be prepared to answer their questions and agile in responses

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Follow up after hearing or meeting�

• Write a thank you along with your understanding of what the meeting or hearing accomplished, answer any questions they had, and propose some next steps.

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• Don’t let a lot of time elapse (don’t want them to forget you or the topic urgency)

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• Think strategically, create a roadmap, be flexible in responses.

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• Persevere!

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Maggie Clarke, Ph.D.

Chair, Long Range Planning Committee

Manhattan Solid Waste Advisory Board

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maggie@maggieclarke.com

www.maggieclarkeenvironmental.com

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212-567-8272

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