Last Fall’s Election was a whirlwind. One thing we should all be excited about is that in California, we continue to push the envelope in protecting the environment. We’re so happy that California’s citizens voted to uphold the ban on single-use grocery bags!
In 2014 CALPIRG worked with other local groups to make California the first state to ban single-use plastic grocery bags. This was a huge victory for our oceans, because plastic bags pollute our beaches and kill thousands of sea turtles and other marine animals every year. But the day the bill was signed by the Governor, out of state plastic companies put Prop 67 on the ballot to try to overturn our ban on plastic bags. We couldn’t let them get away with that. So we ran a huge campaign to educate voters, outreach to the media, get our local elected officials on board, and get Californians’ to vote yes to keep our bag ban.
After months and months of hard work, we are proud that voters saw through the deceptive ballot measure funded by out-of-state plastic companies and voted to continue to protect our ocean.
How did we win?
- We recruited over 500 volunteers to educate over 30,000 students on campus through class announcements and tabling events and got 10,000 students to pledge to vote Yes on 67. We then followed up via phone and text to make sure students turned out and voted yes.
- Last spring we held an alternative spring break trip up and down the state and held seven press conferences in cities from Oakland to San Diego, leading with local leaders in support of Prop 67. We were featured in 12 news stories, including the San Diego 7, KION CB5, the Monterey Herald.
- We held a lobby day in Sacramento with 60 students from across the state and asked state leaders to endorse a yes vote.
- Our professional staff met with editorial boards across the state, resulting in almost every major newspaper calling on voters to vote Yes on 67.
Thanks to everyone who helped make this happen.