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Description
This summit, co-hosted by the City of Cupertino, is a "how-to" event for activists and local government agencies for developing policies that aim at preventing plastics from entering the environment. In this third installment, Felicia Madsen of Save the Bay explains how you can advocate for a plastic bag ban ordinance. Recorded February 23, 2011. (25 min.)
A
We're
going
to
be
moving
now
to
going
to
a
deeper
dive
on
the
issue
is
plastic
bag
plastic
bags
and
our
first
speaker
today
is
policia
Matson
from
save
the
bay
he's
going
to
be
discussing
how
to
advocate
for
a
plastic
bag
ban.
Ordinance
Felicia
is
the
chief
strategy
officer
for
save
the
bay
and
she
has
10
years
of
experience
working
on
issue
advocacy.
A
Felicia
developed,
save
the
bays
policy
priorities
in
issue
campaign
since
2002
before
returning
to
california.
She
served
as
a
director
of
outreach
for
the
US
senate
budget
committee,
organizing
broad
support
among
constituencies
and
organizations
for
federal
budget
priorities
prior
to
her
work
in
Congress
feliz.
He
has
served
as
the
washington
DC
director
of
a
chicago-based
public
affairs
firm,
managing
advocacy
campaigns
on
a
wide
range
of
issues,
including
gun
control,
education,
health
care
and
juvenile
justice.
All
the
easy
ones
right.
A
B
So
so
thank
you
and
that's
really
a
positive
thing
that
we
can
all
be
happy
with
together.
So
today,
I
was
asked
not
just
to
talk
to
you
about
how
you
can
advocate
for
a
plastic
bag
ban,
but
really
how
you
can
work
with
nonprofits
and
specifically
save
the
bay
to
move
your
policies
forward.
So
when
I
heard
the
gentleman
here
from
fillet
hey
we're
going
to
use
him
as
an
example
all
day
long,
so
you
can't
leave
early.
B
You
can't
leave
early
when
I
heard
that
he
you
know
had
his
moment
at
his
meeting.
I
was
in
the
back
corner
just
dying,
because
that
is
exactly
the
moment
that
saved
the
bay
or
clean
water
action
or
Californians
against
waste,
or
many
of
the
other
nonprofits
that
we
live
for
and
that's
why
we're
here
is
to
help
to
help
you
and
really
to
move
forward
our
missions
of
protecting
our
waterways,
so
so
I
just
wanted
to
give
you
just
a
very
brief
overview
of
save
the
bay.
B
We
are
50
years
old,
we're
celebrating
our
50th
anniversary
this
year
and
we're
going
to
have
a
lot
of
public
events,
so
we
hope
that
you
all
can
participate
with
us
and
in
1961
three.
Ladies
from
the
Berkeley
area,
the
East
Bay
came
together
because
they
were
just
appalled
by
the
filling
in
of
San
Francisco
Bay.
You
all
probably
know
the
bay
is
a
third
smaller
because
of
Phil
and
dyking
and
damning,
and
the
the
ladies
from
their
heels
their
Berkeley
Hills.
B
They
could
see
the
actual
filling
in
of
the
bay
and
they
were
upset,
so
they
called
a
meeting
of
some
of
the
leading
conservationists
at
the
time.
That's
what
they
call
themselves,
not
environmentalists
and
said
who's
really
going
to
stop
San
Francisco
Bay
from
being
destroyed,
and
all
of
them
were
too
busy
with
their
own
priorities.
I
think
we.
B
B
So
to
jump
ahead.
50
years
we
save
the
bay
over
many
decades
has
worked
on
many
different
issues
and
one
of
our
current
issues,
that's
part
of
our
strategic
plan
that
we
have
decided
to
put
significant
resources
in
is
to
improve
Bay
water
quality
and,
in
particular,
to
reduce
the
amount
of
trash
and
plastic
debris.
That's
in
the
bay,
so
our
goal
as
an
organization.
Our
bold
goal
is
zero
trash
discharged
from
stormwater
by
2022,
and
you
all
are
familiar
with
that
as
it's.
It's
the
far-reaching
goal
for
trash
reduction
in
the
municipal
regional
permit.
B
Staff
primarily,
is
that,
although
we
are
really
here
to
help
you
and
we,
we
want
to
be
there,
because,
if
you,
if
your
city
is
moving
forward
with
one
of
these
ordinances,
we're
really
all
working
towards
the
same
goal.
But
oftentimes
you
know
save
the
bays
mission
is
to
protect
and
restore
San,
Francisco
Bay,
and
so
sometimes
that
can
be
kind
of
a
push
and
pull
relationship
where
you
may
have
a
very
good
ordinance.
But
maybe
save
the
bay
wants
to
see
it.
B
You
know
one
aspect
broadened
or
perhaps
you
might
feel
it
might
be,
an
unfair
burden
to
have
the
the
municipal
regional
permit
regulations
put
down
at
the
local
level,
but
save
the
bay
might
be
advocating
for
them.
So
sometimes
there
would
be
times
that
we
would
work
with
you
and
it
could
be
a
push
and
pull,
but
for
the
most
part
and
I
think
this
was
really
exemplified
by
our
work
with
San
Jose
around
the
bag.
Ban
ordinance
was
that
you
know
99
percent
of
the
time.
B
We
have
myth
and
fact
sheets.
So
you
know
acc
says
this.
This
is
really
the
fact
presentations.
I
believe
that
these
presentations
will
be
uploaded
to
our
website
and
this
page.
So
this
is
really
a
great
first
step,
and
I
know
that
there's
a
lot
of
organizations
and
state
resources
at
Leslie
mentioned
have
resources
at
you.
You
can
download,
you
know.
B
We
say
the
bay
uses
this
information
to
in
a
really
great
example,
is
in
San
Jose
about
two
years
ago
when,
when
this
started
to
get
very
public
most
of
the
city
council
members
had
not
heard
from
anybody,
but
the
ACC.
So
we
did
an
initial
round
where
we
went
in
with
information
that
you
can
now
find
on
this
website
and
ended
briefing
packets
for
every
council
member
and
then
San
Jose.
B
That's
a
lot,
that's
10
offices
and
I
believe
nine
of
them
accepted
our
invitation
to
meet
with
them,
and
they
all
had
never
heard
the
true
facts
and
were
using
facts
that
they
had
heard
from
the
opposition
and
when
we
left
what
we
found
out
later
was
at
quite
a
few
offices
or
inspired
by
that
mean
because
they
were
very
confused.
They
were
hearing
this
from
the
ACC.
They
were
hearing
this
from
save
the
bay
and
what
it
really
did
for
staff.
B
B
There
were
a
lot
of
interested
community
members
who
really
you
know,
wanted
to
make
sure
the
process
was
good
and
was
really
there
to
participate
with
a
lot
of
integrity,
but
unless
there
was
kind
of
this
counter
voice
to
say
what
we
already
did
that
or
we
already
know-
that's
not
true
or
let's
look
at
this
study.
Instead,
it
was
really
hard
for
staff
to
play
that
kind
of
role.
B
So
one
of
the
things
that
that
save
the
bay
puts
a
lot
of
resources
in
is
community
outreach
and
community
outreach
is
such
a
broad
term,
so
I'm
just
going
to
go
through
a
few
different
examples
of
what
we
do
to
make
sure
that
residents
and
community
organizations
and
other
businesses
and
supportive
organizations
how
they
can
actually
get
involved
and
understand.
What's
going
on
so
one
thing
that
we
do
a
lot
of
is
is
media
outreach.
B
This
is
a
picture
of
the
press
conference
on
the
steps
of
City
Hall
in
Oakland
in
January
2008,
and
this
was
really
I.
Think
Jack
you
were
there.
Are
you
in
that
picture?
You
might
be
right
in
the
back
behind
the
podium.
This
was
right
before
they
they
were
still
kind
of
seeing
if
the
ACC
or
sorry
but
save
the
plastic
guide
coalition
was
going
to
sue
for
the
e
ir.
B
This
is
kind
of
when
all
of
that
started
to
happen,
and
we
participated
in
that
press
conference,
and
we
also
did
a
press
conference
in
san
jose
right
before
a
vote.
A
committee
vote
at
the
recycling
center
and
brought
media
down
to
show
how
plastic
bags
jams
the
recycling
machinery
and
to
talk
to
some
of
the
workers.
So
there's
a
lot
of
interesting
things
you
can
do
with
the
media
and
the
best
reason
to
do.
B
That
is
that
when
you
get
a
story
in
the
paper
or
on
a
popular
blog,
it
really
opens
the
door
to
so
many
more
thousands
of
people
in
that
city
and
across
the
Bay
Area.
She
really
understand
what
the
issue
is
from
a
less
slanted
point
of
view
than
maybe
they
had
heard
before.
So
we
have
worked
with
reporters
save
the
bay
members
to
generate
letters
to
the
editors
we've
reached
out
to
editorial
boards,
particularly
in
the
south
bay,
and
then,
like
I,
said.
We
hold
different
press
events
to
generate
positive
media.
B
We
have
made
quite
an
effort
to
build
a
coalition
for
these
types
of
proposals,
be
just
the
environmental
organizations.
We're
really
lucky
that
our
environmental
community
in
the
bay
area
is
so
strong
and
is
so
active,
but
oftentimes
in
cities.
You
know
other
than
palo
alto
or
san
francisco
or
oakland.
B
We
need
to
make
sure
that
there
are
a
broader
set
of
folks
who
are
in
support
of
these
kinds
of
policies.
So
some
of
the
things
that
we've
tried
to
do
is
to
really
target
our
outreach
based
on
kind
of
a
vote
count.
What
do
we
need
to
get
this
ordinance
pass
so
in
san
jose,
for
example,
some
of
our
environmental
colleagues
and
save
the
bays
staff
went
down
to
the
willow
glen
business
district
and
you
might
think
if
you
know
the
willow
glen
business
district.
B
You
might
think
well,
that's
kind
of
an
obvious
place,
they're
going
to
support
plastic
bags
there
if
they're
going
to
support
it
anywhere
in
in
san
jose.
But
what
we
wanted
to
do
was
to
get
small
businesses
to
sign
on
sign
the
letter.
During
that
day,
it
was
kind
of
a
walk
and
talk
in
all
of
the
shops.
We
got
about
ten
businesses
that
day
to
sign
on
and
the
reason
that
we
chose
this
district
was
because
it's
in
district
6
and
we
were
unsure
what
district
6
council
members
vote
was
going
to
be.
B
We
did
early
and
often
outreach
to
the
San
Jose
Silicon
Valley
Chamber
of
Commerce.
We
wanted
to
make
sure
that
we
at
least
kept
them
neutral,
and
we
didn't,
we
weren't
sure
where
they
stood.
They
had
really
open-minded
staff.
They
were
getting
a
lot
of
pressure
from
the
ACC,
but
we
were
really
able
to
go
in
there
and
create
a
relationship
with
their
point
person.
B
We
were
invited
to
do
a
point-counterpoint
news
newsletter,
article
up
against
the
ACC,
where
we
were
invited
to
debate
the
ACC
at
the
coalition
of
Santa
Clara
County
chambers
of
commerce
which
wasn't
the
most.
It
wasn't
the
most,
but
it
wasn't
a
usual
kind
of
audience
that
saved
the
bait
gets
invited
to
all
the
time.
B
So
it
was
really
great
to
do
that
kind
of
outreach
and
to
create
that
kind
of
relationship
and
in
the
end,
the
chamber
didn't
take
a
position
and
I
think
that
was
just
very
helpful
and
indicative
of
what
their
membership
was,
which
was
some
people
were
for
a
ban
and
saw
that
as
a
positive
thing
for
the
city
and
some
of
their
members
really
didn't
want
the
ban.
Of
course
we
worked
with
our
environmental
colleagues
and
other
community
groups.
B
We
use
online,
organizing
and
social
media.
We
have
a
very
active
following.
We
had
a
lot
of
people
who
were
commenting
and
following
us
as
we
facebooked
and
tweeted
from
the
San
Jose
City
Council
the
day
of
the
vote,
and
this
what
energizes
people
and
get
them
excited
if
they
don't
live
in
san
jose,
for
when
a
band
comes
to
their
own
town
and
then
oftentimes.
B
What
we
do
is
we
take
all
of
these
tools
and
we
put
them
together
and
create
PR
campaigns
or
other
kinds
of
abby's
advocacy
campaigns,
and
we
try
to
time
those
around
important
decision
making
time
so
the
bay
vs
of
the
bag.
We
put
this
campaign
together
almost
two
years
ago,
where
we
contracted
with
free
range,
which
is
a
nationally
recognized
new
media
firm
that
has
won
many
awards.
B
They
put
together
a
video
for
us,
we
did
a
microsite,
we
did
advocacy
with
elected
officials,
we
got
thousands
of
new
people
who
came
to
save
the
bay.
We
got
over
a
hundred
media
articles.
We,
you
know
put
this
up
on
the
huffington
post,
stephen
joseph
decided
was
threatening
to
sue
us
unless
we
took
it
down.
B
We
also
have
our
annual
Bay
trash
hot
spots
campaign,
which
some
of
you
may
know
and
I'm,
not
sure
you
all
have
been
thrilled
with
that,
but
the
reason
that
we
have
done
the
bay
trash
hot
spots-
this
will
be
our
sixth
year
this
coming
summer-
is
that
it
is.
One
has
been
one
of
the
most
fabulous
ways
to
get
Bay
Area
residents
involved
in
aware
of
trash
which
really
Prime's
them
to
support
these
kinds
of
bands.
When
we
do
these
hot
spots,
we
get
tens
of
dozens
of
media
articles.
B
So
you
know
the
last
thing
I
want
to
close
on.
Is
that
save
the
bay
also
has
limited
resources,
and
these
are
a
lot
of
different
tools
that
we
have
in
our
toolbox
an
example
like
San
Jose.
We
actually
used
almost
all
of
these
tools
to
to
move
the
bag,
man
in
particular
forward,
but
I
think
we've
worked
with
many
of
you
and
we've
used
different
kind
of
tactics
and
what
we
do
is
try
to
prioritize,
but
we
always
try
to
engage
and
we're
always
available
for
phone
calls
and
information.
C
C
Not
only
difficult
financial
times,
but
they
may
fail,
I
mean
it
may
in
some
cities
actually
have
failed
as
organizations
because
they
just
cannot
sustain
themselves.
If
that's
the
case,
then
there,
where
with
all
their
ability,
even
if
there
was
a
desire
and
well-to-do,
it
would
collapse
as
well.
If
there
was
one
thing
that
they
could
retain,
though,
besides
police
and
fire,
what
would
it
be?
Oh
I.
C
B
You
know
I
think
I
I
would
leave
it
up
to
the
experts
we
are
here
to
advocate
for
the
health
of
San,
Francisco
Bay
and
trash
is
a
priority
for
our
organization,
but
there
are
many
things
that
threaten
San,
Francisco,
Bay
and
save
the
bay
is
just
because
we're
not
necessarily
working
on
one
of
the
other
items.
There
are
many
organizations
who
are
so
I
think
if
it
comes
down
to
picking
just
one,
there
would
have
to
be
a
discussion
that
is
beyond
just
save
the
bays
interest.