Today, I adventured into Cambridge to gather support for the plastic bag ban. Cambridge is one of the cities that Environment Massachusetts has listed as likely to support and pass a ban on plastic bags, mostly because a high percentage of the population has a more liberal standing. As well, it's proximity to the Charles River stands as a precursor. With the likes of Harvard and the intellectual tourism that goes with it, Cambridge could be a key places in which to pass a plastic bag ban. Going around to the different establishments around Harvard Square, I asked about 30 businesses for their support of a ban on plastic bags. Independently, I signed 8 businesses to the ban with the promise of about 10 more. To be honest, I'm feeling pretty proud of myself. =p
For the rest of this week, I'm switching my focus to a lot more research and writing/editing letters to the editor. Today, I hope to churn out a decent list of businesses in the Cambridge area so that we can lay out a game plan for getting more support in the area. I'm looking at the Chamber of Commerce as well as just using Google Maps. I hope that by being a bit more organized going in, we'll be able to be more efficient and in that, more effective.
Sometimes, I feel like I'm wearing at a mountain with a broom. The people I work with get so excited when I come in after an hour with 20 signatures. But it is bothersome that to get those 20 signatures, I had to ask over 200. And sometimes people aren't so nice just to say no thank you. I can imagine that this is frustrating for a lot of people. I'm trying to take it as a lesson that just because I think something is the right thing to do, others might think the right thing is the exact opposite. And it's not necessarily that they are uneducated or ignorant, they just have different values than I do. Today, I went into a woman's shop to ask her to sign the plastic bag ban. Even though she was a bit rude in telling me no, I have to consider that she has a business to run. If plastic bags are banned, then how can she hand her customers their purchases? She would have to re-order new stock and it's likely that these alternatives would be more expensive.
Slowly, I'm learning that there are a lot of sides to every issue. Ignorance is bliss though... And sometimes I'm envious of the people who only see their side.
For the rest of this week, I'm switching my focus to a lot more research and writing/editing letters to the editor. Today, I hope to churn out a decent list of businesses in the Cambridge area so that we can lay out a game plan for getting more support in the area. I'm looking at the Chamber of Commerce as well as just using Google Maps. I hope that by being a bit more organized going in, we'll be able to be more efficient and in that, more effective.
Sometimes, I feel like I'm wearing at a mountain with a broom. The people I work with get so excited when I come in after an hour with 20 signatures. But it is bothersome that to get those 20 signatures, I had to ask over 200. And sometimes people aren't so nice just to say no thank you. I can imagine that this is frustrating for a lot of people. I'm trying to take it as a lesson that just because I think something is the right thing to do, others might think the right thing is the exact opposite. And it's not necessarily that they are uneducated or ignorant, they just have different values than I do. Today, I went into a woman's shop to ask her to sign the plastic bag ban. Even though she was a bit rude in telling me no, I have to consider that she has a business to run. If plastic bags are banned, then how can she hand her customers their purchases? She would have to re-order new stock and it's likely that these alternatives would be more expensive.
Slowly, I'm learning that there are a lot of sides to every issue. Ignorance is bliss though... And sometimes I'm envious of the people who only see their side.
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