Thursday, Feb 6th brought Surfrider volunteers, members of Washington's environmental leadership, and passionate citizens to our state capital of Olympia for the annual Washington Environmental Lobby Day.
Despite heavy snow across the Puget Sound region, hundreds of people from Washington’s environmental community came to Olympia to demand action on several important environmental bills that the Legislature is considering.
The Washington Environmental Priorities Coalition (EPC) is a collective of dozens of environmental groups active in our state who come together to identify priority bills and use our collective force to get them passed. Two of the EPC priority bills are Surfrider Washington campaigns (more on them below), but you can check out our legislative landing page to learn about other bills we're following and supporting.
The morning began with people gathering together to meet fellow activists, prepare for meetings, and create signs for the afternoon rally. We all split into groups based on our legislative districts, then headed to the capital offices in teams to talk to legislators and staff and ask for support on our bills. These meetings are usually about 15 minutes long and each volunteer has a specific role, such as note-taking, introductions, or telling their personal story about a particular topic. Happy to report that our volunteers crushed it #HumbleBrag.
Hundreds of activists gathered together on the lawn to rally on behalf of our environment
At noon, we marched to the lawn in front of the capital for our Environmental Lobby Day Rally. Hundreds of members of the environmental movement braved light snow and cold wind to come together and speak out. There were dozens of signs, flags, and homemade props on display, and some truly inspiring speakers. A highlight was listening to Squaxin Vice President Jaimie Cruz, who gave an impassioned speech that left us fired up to fight for what is right for people and planet, now and for future generations.
Now more than ever, we need folks who care to come together, raise their collective voices, and fight to protect, support, and strengthen our communities and our environment. It was truly a privilege to participate in Enviro Lobby Days, and we hope to see you at the next one!
Sewage Spill Right-to-Know
Surfrider activists and staff ready to lobby on behalf of our ocean, waves, and beaches!
One of the core values of our organization is the shared love of recreating on and in the ocean. In Washington, we have so many amazing coastal places. But we also have old infrastructure. And a lot of rain. And this leads to dozens of sewage overflows every year, very few of which are reported to the public. Often, we only find out about these spills if our local beach or fishing area is closed due to contaminated and unsafe water. Right now, if a spill happens, wastewater treatment plants do have to report it to the Dept. of Ecology, but it's an internal system that is not easily accessible to the public. Nobody wants to learn after the fact that they've been swimming in raw sewage, which is not just gross but unsafe.
Enter: The sewage spill right to know bill. This bill would require Ecology to create and maintain a public-facing website with maps and searchable sewage spill records so that we can make informed decisions on when and where it's safe to play in the water. At least 10 other states such as South Carolina, Connecticut, and Massachusetts have a public disclosure hub and right-to-know law on the books, and we think Washingtonians deserve one, too!
The Recycling Reform Act
Our current waste management systems are, well, wasteful. More than 50% of Washington’s consumer packaging and paper products are landfilled or incinerated, wasting an estimated $104 million in valuable materials. In addition, we're all fed up with the excess amount of plastic and impossible-to-recycle packaging, the confusion around what is and is not recyclable (which is different county by county, and year by year), and the increasing cost of and decreased access to recycling services.
The Recycling Reform Act will address all these frustrations and more by requiring the producers of this packaging to pay for the end-of-life of their products. They will foot the bill for recycling systems, which incentivizes them to make products that are truly recyclable, compostable, or reusable. It will also create a universal list of what is and is not recyclable throughout Washington (no more wish-cycling or wondering what things go into which bins). Finally, it will expand access to curbside recycling to all state residents who have curbside garbage services, as many Washingtonians currently don't have access to any recycling.
One of our Lobby Days delegations, braving the cold to advocate for our ocean, waves, and beaches