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Action
Ideas for the Global Day of Action
Against Waste Incineration
On
14 July 2003,
campaigns and events will be launched,
media reports disseminated, and a wide variety of
initiatives carried out to tell the incinerator industry
what the global community thinks of their polluting
technology. There are many actions your group could
take on this day, depending on your current campaigns,
your situation, and your time.
One way of approaching the day of action is to think
of activities that your group has been planning to
do anyway or does regularly, and have that be your
action on that day, such as holding community meetings,
press briefings, lobbying decision-makers or writing
letters to the editor.
The point of the day of action is to further your
own campaigns,
so do what makes sense for you.
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Below
is a list of Action Ideas for the Global Day of Action
against Waste Incineration that you can possibly consider
and fine tune with your ongoing work: |
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Issue
a press release, organize a press conference and brief
journalists about the POPs Treaty and the rationale
for a Global Day of Action against Waste Incineration.
Consider inviting allied political, community and
civil society leaders to speak about the need to fast
track the ratification of the Treaty and the need
to implement the Treaty in advance of its entry into
force. You can use the model press release from GAIA
(available by 3 June 2002).
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Write
letters to the editors like what the Irish Doctors
Environmental Association plans to send to medical
journals as well as national dailies. You may send
suitable photographs to accompany your letters to
the newspapers. A template will be available for your
use (ready by 3 June 2002).
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Link
up with mainstream media. Work with feature or environmental
reporters for a special article about waste and incineration,
which can be released on
17 June 2002 or the preceding weekend. Guide journalists
to this Action Kit for the Global Day of Action against
Waste Incineration.
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Meet people in power and hand over petitions to deny
permission for a proposed incinerator or to shut down
an existing incineration facility. Anti-incinerator
groups may launch a signature campaign on 17 June
2002 targeting a particular incinerator plant or proposal.
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Use
the occasion to launch a group dedicated to promoting
non-incineration alternatives to waste management
like the proposed inauguration of the Slovenian anti-incineration
coalition led by the DEA Klub. Existing coalitions
may plan to get together on 17 June 2002 to reaffirm
their shared purpose and strategize on future work.
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Gather
community residents to watch relevant documentaries
to inspire discussion and action. Check
with environmental groups for suitable videos on waste
and incineration.
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Use
the occasion to drum up awareness and support to alternatives
to incineration. For example, on 17 June the Chemical
Weapons Working Group and the Citizens Environmental
Coalition with support from the Stop Dioxin Exposure
Campaign and GAIA plan to release in US a report on
alternative technologies.
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Distribute fact sheets and leaflets to inform readers
about the myths and realities of waste incineration.
In Yerevan, the Armenian Women for Health and a Healthy
Environment plans to distribute the “Do not Burn
Garbage at the Backyard” booklet with the help
of the Peace Corps.
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Conduct
protest actions in front of incineration facilities
or government offices to push our global message towards
a safe and healthy environment. In UK, there is a
proposal to hold candle light meetings outside the
gates of incinerator plants and draw attention to
the countless unnamed children being damaged by chemical
emissions.
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Organize protest assemblies like what the St. Lawrence
River Valley/Adirondac Greens and Cancer Action New
York are jointly preparing to oppose dioxin poisoning
of Lake Ontario and St. Lawrence River.
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Mark
the occasion by organizing public functions to recognize
exemplary zero waste initiatives or institutionalize
zero waste initiatives like what Toxics Link in Delhi,
Exnora International in Chennai and Greenpeace India
and Thanal are planning to undertake.
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Hold seminars and workshops to inform and educate
the people on incineration issues and the available
alternatives. In South Asia, a state-level workshop
on municipal solid waste is being planned in Tamil
Nadu, India by the Citizen, Consumer and Civic Action
Group and Toxics Link Chennai, and a stakeholders’
conference on medical waste is being prepared by the
Forum for the Protection of Public Interest and the
Coalition for a Healthy Environment in Kathmandu,
Nepal.
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Again, these are just suggested activities. The
type and scale of your activities for the Global Day of
Action will rely on your current campaigns, your situation
and your time.
