1. Sign up for the PVC Action Network.
Sign up for the PVC Action Network e-mail announcement list, and you will receive monthly action alerts and updates (no more than two a month) when it matters most and can participate in online consumer campaigns with one easy step. It’s a great way to stay posted on campaign news, victories, and urgent actions.
2. Watch and Help Promote Sam Suds and the Case of PVC, the Poison Plastic
Watch CHEJ’s hilarious animated detective spoof, Sam Suds and the Case of PVC the Poison Plastic online at http://www.pvcfree.org. It’s a fun way to learn about the dangers of the poison plastic.
After you watch the video, help us spread the word about it! Here’s some simple ways you can help promote the video:
3. Tell a friend.
Tell your friends and family about PVC’s impact on our health and environment, and encourage them to sign up for the PVC Action Network. You can use our simple form to spread the word.
4. Purchase safe, PVC-free products.
As a consumer, use your consumer power to help shift the market away from PVC products. Check out our page of resources on safe alternatives to PVC. One way to be sure if the packaging of a product is made from PVC is to look for the number “3” inside or the letter “V” underneath the universal recycling symbol. In addition, soft flexible plastic products that are made with PVC often have a distinct odor, such as vinyl shower curtains. If you suspect a product is made of PVC, contact the product manufacturer and retailer where you purchased the product and ask them about the materials used and your concerns about PVC.
5. Help build and spread the word about the campaign.
Distribute our campaign flyer and PVC Action Network sign up sheets to your friends, family, and neighbors.
6. Organize a Blue Vinyl screening.
Organize a screening of the award-winning documentary, Blue Vinyl, a toxic comedy that examines PVC’s toxic lifecycle, from the vinyl-manufacturing capital of Louisiana to suburban Long Island, NY. The film is a winner of the Excellence in Cinematography Award at Sundance and has been applauded as “scary and hilarious!” (Elvis Mitchell, New York Times). Whether it’s a screening in your living room or a screening at a local community center or church, this hard-hitting documentary is a great way to spread the word about the campaign. At your screening, be sure to hand out copies of our campaign flyer and sign up sheet to bring people into the campaign. For information and support resources for organizing a public or targeted screening of BLUE VINYL contact Molly Ramey at Working Films mramey(at)workingfilms.org or (910) 342-9000.
7. Pass a local PVC-free purchasing resolution.
Get your local school, church, city/town government, or company to pass a toxic-free purchasing policy, to phase out the purchase of extremely toxic chemicals and products such as PVC and purchase safer, cost-effective alternatives. Model PVC-free purchasing policies have been passed all around the country, from New York City to Seattle, WA. Contact us and we’d be happy to help you develop strategies to get a local purchasing policy passed and provide model resources to get your local campaign going. You can log onto the BE SAFE Precautionary Policy Clearinghouse to view some model PVC policies today.
8. Participate in a media event or day of action.
Help organize and participate in media events and days of action to help shift major companies away from PVC. If you are affiliated with a group, you can join with the PVC campaign in holding media events in your region. If you’re interested in organizing a future media event or day of action, please contact us and we’ll be in touch.
9. Write a letter to the editor.
Letters to the editor are the most widely read sections of newspapers, and can be very effective in spreading our message about PVC and safe alternatives. Contact us for talking points, sample letters to the editor others have recently submitted, and tips for getting your letter to the editor published.
10. Educate yourself.
Be sure to peruse our library of reports on PVC hazards, reports on safer alternatives, PVC company policies, and links to PVC governmental policies. Be sure to also check out links to some of our allied organizations.
