Online petitions: Eco-worth it?

I was on a flight recently, thereby increasing my carbon footprint by untold tons of CO2. The flight attendant collected my third plastic cup of the flight, in a bag that obviously was not headed towards a recycling facility. My eco-feelings were not happy ones. 

Afterwards, I poked around the Internet and found the haunting art piece shown above.
What is it? It’s the one million disposable plastic cups used by airlines on flights in the U.S. every SIX HOURS.

Unfortunately, that issue is still with us. But I found that a similar issue was solved by an online petition. United Airlines was using Styrofoam cups for its coffee. Dominique Kalata, a regular person from San Francisco, started an online petition to get United to switch to paper. With 13,461 supporters, she did. United announced they were switching to paper cups.

Because it’s my decade of trying to make a positive difference for the environment, I decided to explore the broader question:  Are online petitions for environmental causes worth signing?

I will save you the suspense of reading further, and answer that question right now: Yes.

Let me clarify: HELL yes.

For those toying with the idea of making a positive eco-difference in the world, please know that this is one of the easiest, most effective things you can do. Especially if everyone does it. Especially if otherwise, you were going to do nothing. And especially if it leads to more awareness of eco-problems, more eco-funding, and more eco-activism, which studies show it is likely to do.

AND – this is huge – they can be a teaching tool for your kids. That’s right. Your kids can sign online petitions. You can talk about a particular petition as a family. Dinnertime bonding? Yessiree Bob. Critical thinking? Absolutely. If your kids decide to sign a petition, they can then follow it as it gains support (or doesn’t). And hopefully, eventually, your kids can see that their signatures made a difference; that they helped do something great for the environment.  Where else are you going to get a family opportunity like that?

Because really, for the lazy/busy but environmentally concerned like myself, this is the choice:

Option A:

1. Find a weekend day that the whole family is available. 
   
2. Do a beach cleanup, or attend a tree planting, or an environmental rally. (Which would never happen, because #1 is impossible.)
   
3. Find time to research environmental issues, then write or call relevant CEOs or your lawmakers about them. (Also not going to happen due to effort required and lack of time.)
   
4. End up doing nothing.
   

Option B:

1. Browse petitions on a trustworthy site like AddUp.org, Change.org  or Care2.com. Select those that interest you.
   
2. Discuss over dinner or during chauffeuring duties.
   
3. Take a few minutes to sign.
   

If you’re already convinced that online petitions are for you, stop reading this and go sign some!

Hey. You’re still reading.  You’re worried. Or afraid. I can see your brow furrowing (you should probably turn off your device’s camera). I know what you’re thinking. Let me allay your concerns.

Concern: If I provide the info required to sign the petition, I’ll get a bunch of spam.
Response: Create a new email account just for signing petitions. Do the same for your kids. I will say that I’ve been signing lots of environmental petitions the past few months. While I do get updates, other petition alerts, and requests to help fund campaigns, it’s clear these organizations have not sold my email address to anyone else.

Concern: This will come back to haunt me somehow.

• My boss/friend/neighbor/boyfriend/Republicans/Rush Limbaugh will see my signature and think I am a radical/treehugger/hippie/wacko/activist/liberal.
  
• My signature will become part of my permanent record and be used against me when I’m up for that Supreme Court nomination/presidential bid/Junior League chairmanship.
  
• Someone will contact me asking for my money/time/blood.
  

Response: Use a version of your name that won’t easily be traced back to you. For instance, use your middle name or first initial instead of your first name. Or, hey! Live a little. Take a risk. Be a clicktivist. Or a slacktivist. Or whatever it’s called these days. Overcome that fear.

Concern: I may not understand all the nuances of this petition, and might end up petitioning for something I don’t really believe in.
Response: Stick to those petitions created by organizations you trust to know what they’re talking about. The Nature Conservancy, Sierra Club, Greenpeace, World Wildlife Fund, Natural Resources Defense Council, Environmental Defense Fund, TerraPass.com, National Audubon Society  – all these are longstanding, reputable organizations. If they’re behind a petition, you can be pretty sure it’s been carefully thought through.

Concern: I’ll just be wasting those 5 minutes reading and signing an online petition, because I’m not sure if online petitions are effective.
Response:  Online petitions do work -- certainly to raise awareness. And sometimes to get the desired result – depending on a variety of factors.  And they can result in further action, which may end up getting the desired result. In any event, the 5 minutes spent are well worth it. Read on.

One way an online petition works is by raising awareness of causes and issues –

• your awareness as the signer, 
  
• your friends’ awareness, if you share your support on social media (or –madness!—actually talk with friends about it), 
  
• general awareness through media attention if the cause gains sufficient support, and 
  
• the target’s awareness (provided it’s actually delivered to the target).  
  

Even if the petition does not result in immediate action, the awareness it raises may prompt action down the road.

In some cases there’s evidence that the online petition directly caused the desired change. For instance, a Gatorade spokesperson told The New York Times that an online campaign against its use of brominated vegetable oil—an ingredient sometimes used as a flame retardant—led the company to speed up its planned phase-out of the product. 

More often, it can’t be proved that the petition alone caused the change, although it likely played a role in bringing about the change along with other factors. See below for some examples.

Online petitions also work in that they can inspire further advocacy. According to a Pew Research Center study in 2013, nearly one in five active users on social networks said information they learned online inspired them to take further action. And a study from Georgetown University found that those who engage in social issues online are twice as likely as their traditional counterparts to volunteer and participate in events. 

The success of an online petition also depends on how well it’s designed and executed. One of the biggest online petition websites, Change.org,  lists the following features that make online petitions more likely to succeed:

• The Ask is compelling and achievable;
  
• The petition is delivered directly to the target;
  
• Social media tools are used to get the word out and recruit supporters; and
  
• The online petition is followed up by offline action. 
  

I would add this advice on how to focus your signature power where it’s most likely to be effective:

• If the target is an elected official, it’s only worth signing if you are one of his/her constituents. Lawmakers and other elected officials keep their jobs by getting re-elected. So they care what their voters have to say. If you’re not a constituent, they don’t have to be accountable to you.
  
• Think about the petition from the perspective of the target. If, for instance, it’s asking a company to make a change that would have a large impact on their bottom line, it’s probably not going to succeed. 
  

Here are some examples of effective online petitions:

• A 13-year-old girl from Illinois petitioned the state’s governor to veto legislation that would have prohibited towns from enacting bans on single-use plastic bags—and he did.
  
• With more than 99,000 signatures on the Humane Society’s petition, “the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced ... it will ensure that large-scale breeding facilities that sell puppies over the internet, by phone, or by mail are licensed and inspected regularly for basic humane care standards.” 
  
• A woman from Texas started a petition urging the US Department of Agriculture to eliminate the processed beef product known as “pink slime” from school lunches—and shortly thereafter the agency said it would do so.
  
• Anglo-American, a large mining company that hoped to develop a huge copper mine near Alaska's Bristol Bay, abandoned its plans after national environmental groups like the Natural Resources Defense Council and a number of local groups submitted nearly a million signatures in protest.
  
• With more than 10,000 online petition signatures, the governor of Aceh banned a palm oil company from burning forests in Indonesia. 
  
• After a farmer got more than 117,000 signatures on his online petition, Kellogg and General Mills set targets to reduce their pollution emissions. 
  

Let’s recap. Here’s what you should do:

1. Go to AddUp.org , Change.org  or Care2.com
   
2. Find an eco-petition you think is worthy
   
3. Sign it
   
4. Engage kids and other family/friends if desired 
   

And if by chance you decide to get even more involved – through social media, a donation or even starting your own petition, well, you can thank your start with online petitions.

In the immortal words of Elle Woods, in the epic film Legally Blonde 2, “Speak up!”

Further reading: 

From Petitions to Decisions 
Petitions Are Going Viral, Sometimes To Great Success 
9 Viral Change.org Petitions Nonprofits Can Learn From 
Slacktivism or This Generation’s Activism: Do Online Petitions Work? 
Top 5 Reasons Why Online Petitions are Crucial to Your Advocacy Success