Door-to-door organizers for Texas Campaign for the Environment (TCE) are traveling to Brownwood for the first time ever as part of the group’s effort to organize members in all 181 state legislative districts in Texas. The group, known for its advocacy for better recycling, particularly when it comes to electronic waste, will be knocking on doors, educating the public, signing up members and generating letters to corporate and elected officials on Friday, August 17th.
“The spirit of West Texas is one where neighbors stand together to look out for one another, where concern for the land is a basic value,” Jeffrey Jacoby, Staff Director for TCE Austin and a San Angelo native, said. “We know that folks in Brownwood and across West Texas want a voice on these issues, and we are excited to talk to them.”
Texas Campaign for the Environment has successfully advocated for legislation which makes the manufacturers of computers and television sets responsible for their recycling, and is now working to convince Walmart to agree to take back electronics for recycling. “After all,” said Jacoby, “there’s a Walmart in virtually every Texas community.”
A grassroots organization, TCE is financed almost entirely through more than 60,000 individual contributions—ranging from a few dollars to several hundred—generated by door-to-door organizing each year. They also generate more than 75,000 personal letters per year from the community to governmental and corporate decision-makers.
“Democracy is about engaging every citizen in the process of making decisions about our future,” Renee Vaughan, Project Manager for the trip, said. “With 45,000 members and tens of thousands of letters, politicians and corporations have to listen to us. That means a more accountable political process, and a healthier Texas.”
TCE’s trip to Brownwood is part of the group’s year-long “Project 181” wherein they will organize communities in all 150 Texas House and all 31 Texas Senate districts before the legislature convenes again in January 2013. As part of this effort, they plan to have more than 50,000 Texans sign their “I Recycle, I Vote” pledge, encouraging voters to get to the polls this November with recycling and better environmental policies in mind.
“Our issues are not Republican or Democrat issues and we have as many conservative members as liberal,” Ashley Gibson, a Field Manager with TCE said. “The land and water are common to us all—that’s why we find support in every corner of the state.”
The TCE canvassers will be knocking on doors from 4 PM to 9 PM, when residents are likely to be home, and will also be in Fort Stockton, Alpine, Lubbock, El Paso and Abilene on this trip. TCE has already been to Midland-Odessa, San Angelo, Big Spring, the Panhandle, the Gulf Coast and much of East Texas—parts of the state not normally reached by their full-time offices in Dallas, Houston and Austin. Excursions into South Texas, the Piney Woods and the western Hill Country are planned for the rest of the year.
“Texas is a big state, but we work on big issues,” Renee Vaughan said. “We are excited to be heading out to Brownwood for the first time, and optimistic about the support we’ll find there. This is about the future of our state, and everywhere we go we find concerned citizens ready to do what they can to make sure our children, grandchildren and future generations have a Texas that’s safe to live in.”