I attended an Advocacy Training event on January 31st hosted by the Coastal Conservation League. The event was put on by College of Charleston organizations Alliance for Planet Earth, CofC Democrats and CofC Vegan Club. The event began with the CCL’s Community Outreach Coordinator Jasmine Gil introducing herself and giving background on what CCL does. The Coastal Conservation League is an organization that lobbies for environmental protection of the Carolina coasts, but also for other local progress like transportation, food and agriculture solutions, and social inequality in the lowcountry. The CCL works with local communities, businesses, residents and volunteers to protect the natural resources and beauty of Charleston, as well as the surrounding coast. One of the biggest ways they help do this is by being very vocal to policy makers and local government representatives to be clear on how they want them to vote, in the interest of local ecosystems and people. The 30-year organization was instrumental in helping get the ban on plastic bags passed in Charleston last year.

The purpose of this advocacy training was so that students who are interested in conservation could learn how to actively participate in passing policies that promote conservation and stop policies that threaten our ecosystems. Jasmine and Caitie Forde-Smith, the CCL’s Communications Director, laid out a basic outline of how we can each be part of creating change in our communities. To block or pass policies, we should be aware of what is being proposed and what environmental impacts these proposals would have if enacted. They used the example of a bill that is on the table currently and could have large environmental consequences. This bill proposed by Republican policy makers would be a state-wide ban on bans, like the plastic bag ban, claiming that banning things like plastic bags and straws reduces jobs… but there aren’t any plastic bag manufacturers in SC. Furthermore, the bill threatens local municipalities’ autonomy on deciding what they want for their own communities. This ban on bans would negatively impact Charleston’s ability to regulate plastic, impacting our wetlands and beaches, and subsequently tourism. Next, we should be aware of who our representatives are, and to reach out to them stating how we want them to vote and why it’s important to us that they do. An easy way to contact a representative would be to send an email, but the CCL suggests calling them if you’re comfortable making phone calls because they are more impactful and personal. As part of the workshop, Caitie asked for 3 volunteers to call their representative to urge them to oppose the ban-on-bans bill in front of the group on speaker. The first 2 volunteers went up, then I volunteered. Caitie helped me find out that my West Ashley representative was Sandy Senn. Caitie gave me some background information on Senn, telling me she was a republican but a lowcountry native, and that she votes in support of the environment usually, also telling me to butter her up with thanks for her vote for the plastic bag ban. I called, introduced myself as a biology major at CofC, told her I oppose the bill and it’s important she vote against it because it will have negative impacts on our marine ecosystems and thanked her for working to protect the lowcountry.

This workshop was very informative, engaging and fun. The Coastal Conservation League focused on the importance of being educated and aware of local issues, to be vocal about issues you are passionate about and to reach out however you can to be active in our own communities. I am personally interested in volunteering with the CCL after learning about everything they do in support of our local marine habitats. The Coastal Conservation League does a lot of interdisciplinary work pertaining to environmental protections and making Charleston and the Carolina coasts more sustainability focused. They work with local communities to secure and distribute locally grown food, advocate for local green energy, fight for clean air and land protections, preservation of historic land and sites, and provide support to local farmers. All the work they do combines policy, profit, people and the planet.