Plastic Pollution Proclamation for
Plastic Free July
Join Towns Around the World with a Proclamation:
July is Plastic Pollution Reduction Month
Definition of a Proclamation: A proclamation is an official declaration issued by a Town Selectboard or City Council to make something known in a public and official announcement.
Plastic Free July
Step 1. Study the international movement: Plastic Free July which includes participants from 177 countries who choose to refuse single-use plastics.
Plastic Pollution Coalition Webinar
Step 2. Watch the Plastic Pollution Coalition webinar with the founder of Plastic Free July
Dover, Hopkinton, and New London Templates
Step 3. Download the Dover Proclamation template. Dover chose to ask for July to be proclaimed Plastic Pollution Reduction Month rather than the month be “plastic free” expecting that request to have a higher likelihood of being approved.
There are also proclamations from Hopkinton and New London.
To make a page similar to Hopkinton's for 2023 you will need to download 2 files:
Background - a blank page from the Plastic Free July website. Go to the File menu and download.
Wording - an editable document. Go to the File menu and download to edit. You can use the Dover or New London versions instead. (See links above.)
Copy and paste your edited wording in #2 to the Background from #1.
Modify the Proclamation Template
Step 4. On the copy of the Proclamation that you downloaded in Step 3, modify the language for your town/city.
Present a Draft and Submit the Draft for Review
Step 5. Present a draft of your proclamation to a official partner in your city council/town select board.
Ask your official partner if they need the statement to be reviewed by the city solicitor.
Build on your Proclamation
Step 6. Consider how you can build on your proclamation by asking your library to host a display, offer a community presentation, or create a ‘Take the Challenge’ community campaign.