Advocacy 101: How to Make Your Community a Healthier Place for Children

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Advocacy 101: How to Make Your Community a Healthier Place for Children

Christa Benson

Children's Environmental Health Network

Saturday, February 01, 2003

At home, you can control many of the chemicals that enter your home, such as pesticides, paint, cleaners, art supplies and personal care products, by making safe and healthy choices. And as parents, you have the ability to limit your children's exposure to hazardous chemicals in your home by keeping such chemicals safely locked away from children.

But some environmental contaminants that enter your home are not easily blocked or eliminated. And children spend plenty of time away from home — at the park, at school, in day care centers and other places — where they may be exposed to environmental hazards.
Though you may feel powerless to keep your children safe when they leave home, there is something you can do to protect them from environmental health hazards in the community. The answer is advocacy: actively striving to make changes to make your community, state, nation, and world a better and healthier place to live.

Changing or creating policy, whether at your child's school or on a national scale, may seem like a huge task, but it isn't impossible. In all cases, the keys to being a good advocate are knowledge of the issue, patience and determination. By contacting and speaking with the right policy makers and community leaders — who are there to represent you and your interests as a member of the community — you make them aware of issues, prod them to take action and truly make a difference.

To help you, we've come up with some pointers on how to be an advocate for children's environmental health in your community.
1. Gather Information

Did you know you have a "Right to Know?"

The U.S. Congress established under the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act of 1986 (or EPCRA) that the public has a "right to know" what the possible health hazards are for certain hazardous chemicals, as well as where these chemicals have been released and by whom.

To this end, the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) tracks chemical release information for about 700 chemicals regulated under EPCRA. The TRI database is an excellent resource for parents to learn about the hazards of certain chemicals. The data is updated every spring.

Environmental Defense, a nonprofit environmental organization, has created a web-based database called Scorecard to grade the extent of chemical releases in communities using TRI data and other information. The database can be searched by zip code. It also contains health and exposure information for many chemicals.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Where You Live website contains numerous resources on potential environmental hazards in your community, including links to EPA regional offices and state and local government agencies, and databases on Superfund sites, hazardous waste sites and polluting releases in water, air and land.

Note: The chemicals tracked under TRI or otherwise regulated by the federal government are only a fraction of the approximately 80,000 chemicals used in products in today's market.

2. Research the Issues

Before you approach community leaders, it is important to understand the issue that concerns you. Take some time to learn about it by visiting reputable websites or checking out good sources for accurate information. Remember that not everything on the Internet is accurate! Rely on scientific and environmental articles published in well-respected newspapers and professional journals. Many nonprofit organizations working on similar issues have gathered much of this information and may be able to help point you to other sources.

Here are a few good places to start:

Healthy Child Healthy World
The articles and blog contain useful information and links to other helpful sites. The chemical database contains information on chemicals. Each profile includes links to other organizations, government agencies, and references to sources on the material provided.

Children's Environmental Health Network
CEHN has a great resource directory of local, state and national nonprofit organizations, government agencies and researchers working on hundreds of environmental health issues that relate to children. You can search the CEHN Resource Guide online.

For more links to helpful chemical and pesticide databases, nonprofit organizations and government agencies, see Research Tools on The Web: Where to Find In-Depth Information on Children's Environmental Health Issues.

3. Join Forces

While learning about the issue, identify who can help you. Joining forces with other interested parties can mean a more powerful position in negotiating policy issues. If the problem is in your neighborhood, speak with neighbors and ask them to join with you in trying to make change. If the problem is located in a specific institution, such as your children's school, a chemical company, or an incinerator, for example, in addition to joining with other parents or community residents, determine who in the institution is the decision-maker for your concerns.

Look for advocacy organizations that have similar concerns. They may adopt the cause or help you organize your campaign. Or they may have already started a campaign that you can join. Many nonprofit organizations have been established to advocate for national environmental issues. Many have ongoing legislative efforts. Sign onto their petitions and letter-writing campaigns. Look for local groups – or local chapters of national groups – that address such issues in your area. And don't limit yourself to the obvious. Diverse organizations, from religious institutions to nursing associations, work on environmental health issues.

If you can't find an established campaign for the issue you are concerned about, consider creating your own. For help organizing your efforts locally, visit the website of the Center for Health, Environment and Justice for resources.

4. Contact the Right Person
If the management of the institution of concern is not responsive after you bring the issue to their attention, consider contacting public officials. When speaking to public officials, remember that they represent you and your community. Elected officials should be open to hearing from and responding to their constituents. The best way for them to know the interests and concerns of your community is for you to contact them and tell them!

Before contacting a government official, you will need to determine who regulates the issue of concern—the local government (city or county), the state government or the federal government. You may get some direction from the research that you have done. The regional offices of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency can help you if you are not sure. You can contact both legislators, the people who write the laws, as well as members of the executive branches of government, who develop the regulations and policies to implement the laws.

Local Government: If the issue of concern to you relates to your neighborhood or community, then contacting local officials is the place to start.
Write to members of the council or email them with your concerns. Community members can write individually, or a group letter with a group of signatures could be sent.

Arrange to visit the local legislator. Call the local office and arrange a time to meet with the legislator or perhaps a member of their staff.

Participate in a public hearing on the issue; you may have to first call upon officials to hold a hearing on the issue or develop another strategy for community concerns to be made public.

You may also want to contact the mayor's office, members of the local school board and other local entities, depending on the issue. In large cities, officials at the departments of sanitation, environmental protection and/or health could be helpful as well. You can find the contact information for these offices in your local phone book, in the blue government pages.

State Government: If the issue concerns the whole state, such as when several counties are involved or when the state government regulates policy, you should contact your state officials.
You can find contact information on your state government website. You can find the web address of state government websites at USAGov.

The National Council of State Legislators has a web page that lists current legislative activity related to children's environmental health. NCSL also has other resources on these issues that may be helpful to you or your state legislator.

Visit the state legislator or a staff member to discuss the issue. Call their office and arrange for a visit.

You may also be able to get help from state environmental and health officials or the governor's office. Contact information can be found on your state government website.
National Government: Some issues are regulated by the federal agencies. In some cases, the federal government may have jurisdiction in state issues.
Writing or emailing your national government officials is a good way to first contact them. Even if you don't get an individual response, most legislators will keep a record of constituent concerns to help them determine how to vote on legislation.

Every U.S. Senator and Representative spends some time back in their district and has at least one district office. Contact their district office and find out when they will be at home to schedule a visit with your Senator or Representative. It is also worthwhile to arrange a meeting with their district staff. If you visit Washington, DC, you can also schedule visits to their offices there. Contact The U.S. Senate or The U.S. House of Representatives.

If Federal government agencies are not adequately overseeing and implementing policy, it may be a good idea to write to the top administrators:
The White House & Executive Branch Agencies in the Federal Government
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
U.S. Food and Drug Administration
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
U.S. Department of Agriculture

There are numerous other agencies that may have something to do with the issue you are interested in. You can find more information about these agencies on USA.gov.

Updated Date: 02/09