 |
|
Toxics Action Center Programs & Services
Group Training and Assistance
We provide community groups and local leaders with the organizing skills needed to wage effective campaigns. This usually starts with visiting the neighborhood and holding an Introductory Meeting to discuss the problem and to determine how we can help. Our seven consultations serve as the foundation for our group assistance:
- Campaign Planning
- Message and Materials
- Group Building
- Media Events
- Fundraising
- Public Hearings
- Community Votes
In addition to these formal group trainings, we also provide ongoing assistance and leadership development to groups through phone conversations, individual meetings with group leaders and through helping with specific aspects of the campaign (i.e. researching at DEP, drafting MEPA letters, etc.).
Networking
The goal of our network is to both reinforce local campaigns and to help local groups see themselves as part of a larger movement for environmental health and democracy. We help connect neighborhood groups with other activists fighting similar battles to build confidence and share lessons, ideas and information. We also maintain an expert referral list with legal, public health and environmental professionals who help local groups pro bono or at a reduced fee. Key parts of our network are:
- Expert referral list (by state)
- Database of citizen activists (by state)
- Email Listservs
- History of former campaigns in each town
- Reference to New England Grassroots Environment Fund and grant writing assistance
We also work to bring together different neighborhood groups fighting the same problem through coordinated statewide campaigns, where we serve as campaign coordinators. These campaigns help impact the issue by providing additional resources, such as organizing new conferences or publishing reports, which put additional pressure on state government decision-makers. These campaigns have included: cleaning up power plants in CT (Sooty Six), sludge spreading in ME, school pesticides in MA, asphalt plants in CT, and increasing recycling in MA.
Information
We maintain a database and reference materials that detail environmental threats throughout the region. In addition, we provide information about public health and environmental laws and regulations, both what they say on paper and how they work in practice. Resources include:
- List of hazardous waste sites by town
- Fact sheets and reference books on toxic health threats
- Summaries of toxic threats and helpful contacts on our website
- List of soil and groundwater standards
- Copies of state laws and regulations
- State maps showing pollution threats
We publish guides to help groups understand the complexities of issues as well as laws and regulations. Guides include:
- Cleaning Up Hazardous Waste Sites
- Sludge
- West Nile Virus
- TruGreen ChemLawn
- Aerial Spraying of Blueberries
- Medical Waste Incineration
- Technical Assistance Grants
- Pesticides In Schools
- Casella Waste Systems
- Recycling in Boston
Conference/ Weekend Trainings
Our annual conferences and weekend trainings pull all three of our services together. By bringing together hundreds of activists, expert government officials, skilled trainers and big-name speakers, the conferences give attendees a deeper understanding of environmental issues, an introduction to a larger movement, new skills, the opportunity to meet directly with government regulators, and inspiration to keep going. Our events include:
- Southern New England Conference, Worcester (Spring)
- Maine Conference, Bowdoin College (Fall)
- Vermont Conference, VT Technical College (Fall)
- Leadership Retreat, Walker Center, Newton (May)
- Issue Summits (one day weekend events)
Dirty Dozen Awards
A special category all their own, our annual Dirty Dozen awards help publicize the toxic threats to communities in New England . Every fall, a committee of experts chooses the “worst of the worst” sites from nominations sent in by community groups. We then coordinate twelve media events with local groups during one week in early December. The Dirty Dozen spotlight alone has lead to victories for local groups.
|
