Proposals
Environmental issues are complex; to be effective, you have to be in command of the facts. Sure you want your school to get recycled paper: but your demand has more weight if you know the distributors, prices, and other schools that did the same. Not only is this impressive, but your school might not actually have that information and you remove an excuse for them to stall. By showing your competence and determination, you are more likely to get a reply of similarly high caliber. Proposals should be backed up by petitions, polls, rallies, and support from friendly faculty and even administrators. Don’t go overboard and spend all of your time on research, as you also need to organize student support for them to succeed.


Public Hearings
To promote the democratic process, host a hearing or speak-out to have students voice their concerns. Invite administrators, set the agenda, and let them hear the students’ voices. Ask the administrators to meet your demands. Write down whether they support, oppose, or waffle on a large piece of paper. Make it a media event. If the targets don’t show up, make an issue of it. Fake chickens or at least empty chairs with names on them are good stand-ins for targets who fail to show up.

You should also attend hearings held by the town or school to show your support of an issue. Bring lots of members. Designate spokespeople and plan a set of questions or statements. Be polite if you want, but don’t let the agenda get taken away from you.