It's the second week of Plastic Free July! We hope you had fun with the tip 'Bring Your Own__, and were able to get creative with ways to bring your own reusables!

Now onto the second tip of the month: Writing Letters (or emails)

Writing emails or letters to elected officials is a fantastic way to show support for (or against) an issue, or bill. Not only can you write an email to an elected official, but you can also write one to a business – at The Tare Shop, we've changed some things based on customer feedback!

It can be really intimidating to send a letter to an elected official -  I get it! 

Whether you're writing to an elected official or business, here are some tips:

1. You don't have to be an expert! One thing that can hold people back from writing about an issue is that you can feel like you have to know everything about a topic to send a letter – this isn't true. 

2. Make it personal. Introduce yourself and expalin why you care about the issue.

3. Keep it to the point and simple. They're reading a ton of letters, keep yours short and to the point. There's no need to ramble on!

Here is a template of a letter to send to a business:

Dear x,

My family and I love coming to your__________. We’ve been coming for _______ years/share a memory etc.

EX. We noticed that you use (styrofoam) takeout containers (or x issue) and were wondering if you would consider switching to paper/cardbaord containers that would be compostable when you run out of the ones you have?

EX. We noticed that we always get plastic cutlery with our takeout. Would you consider making it your policy to only include cutlery when the customer asks? This would probably save you money, and waste from the waste stream!

It would mean so much to us if you did – as a household we are trying to reduce our plastic/garbage use and this would make a big difference! 

Thanks so much for reading this, and you will see us soon!

Best,

Your name