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Overview
10
Things
You Can Do
Clothes
for a
Change
Care
what you wear
 10
Good Reasons
 Campaign
A
Cleaner
Approach
FAQs
Case
Studies
Links
Cleaner
Cotton
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Sustainable Cotton Project has developed campaign
material to be used by campus activists to organize their
campuses to purchase only organic collegiate apparel. These
campaign strategies can be adapted to use in any community
and organization to raise awareness and demand for sustainable
and organic clothing to be sold near you.
Campus
Activism
Fair made, organic cotton collegiate clothing provides a sustainable
alternative to the conventional collegiate apparel industry.
Bringing fair made organic cotton clothing to our campuses
is an important step towards replacing environmentally and
socially exploitive products with sustainable products. It
is a viable and achievable goal that can be incorporated into
current campaigns, used to recruit new activists, and network
labor, environmental, social justice, agricultural and other
campus organizations, including various departments and their
students, faculty and staff. Fair made organic cotton clothing
is environmentally sustainable, fair, and independently monitored
– all of which are essential components of a democratic
global economy.
How
to start a campaign
1::
Investigate where the collegiate clothing in your bookstore
comes from. Survey who supplies your campus. Figure out whom
on you campus makes the collegiate apparel purchasing decisions.
Often times there is a Clothing Manager who is under contract
with a larger company, whereas independent bookstores are
run by their own managers and have more leeway in making purchasing
decisions.
2::
Investigate how student groups purchase their event t-shirts.
Survey who supplies your campus with student event t-shirts.
Figure out whom on your campus makes the event t-shirt purchasing
decisions. Often times a student group will be organized and
funded by the Associated Students, whereas independent student
groups not bound by campus policies may have more leeway in
purchasing decisions.
3::
Star mobilizing a coalition. You local activist group can
incorporate this Campaign into its program goals, or you may
need to start you own coalition. Environmental and anti-sweatshop
groups will play a significant role.
4::
Educate your community to gather consumer support and awareness.
- Table in your student union and give
out education materials, get people to sign petitions and
send letters.
- Ask other groups if you can table at
their events.
- Ask student groups if you can come and
talk to them about purchasing organic fair made cotton t-shirts
for their next event.
- Invite a speaker to come and educate
your campus community.
- Hold a movie night and show a video.
- Get an article about the Campus Campaign
published in your local paper.
- Get professors to let you talk about
organic fair made clothing in relevant classes.
4::
Define your campaign goals for the collegiate apparel market.
- If your campus-clothing supplier already
offers a line of organic fair made collegiate clothes, all
you have to do is get them to offer it to your campus.
- If your supplier does not carry such
a line, you want to pressure them to start offering a line
of organic fair made collegiate clothes. It they won’t,
then you would want your school to switch companies to one
that does. The first option will be much more attractive
to your administration; the second will require much more
work.
- Your group will
also have to decide: do you want to get the school to offer
ONE line of organic fair made collegiate clothes as an option
for students, or do you want a comprehensive purchasing
restriction, such that ALL collegiate apparel in your bookstore
has to be fair made and organic? This will depend on the
political climate of your school and the strength of your
mobilization. Many schools won’t mind adding an additional
product but shy away from replacing existing contracts.
But once you get your administration to bring in one offering,
it’s a lot harder to build up momentum later to pass
a purchasing restriction. Set your demands above what realistically
can be expected so that you have room to negotiate.
6::
Define you campaign goals for student event t-shirts.
- If your local screen printer already
offers organic fair made cotton t-shirts, all you have to
do is get them to offer it to your campus clubs.
- If your screen printer does not carry
such a line, you want to pressure them to start offering
a line of organic fair made cotton t-shirts. It they won’t,
then you would want your school to switch to a screen printers
that does.
- Your group will also have to decide:
do you want to get the school to support organic fair made
cotton event t-shirts as an option for students, or do you
want a comprehensive purchasing restriction, such that ALL
student event t-shirts purchased with student fees have
to be fair made and organic? This will depend on the political
climate of your school and the strength of your mobilization.
Many schools won’t mind supporting the cause, but
may shy away from placing a purchasing restriction upon
the use of student fees. Set your demands above what realistically
can be expected so that you have room to negotiate.
7::
Meet with your management and elected officers. Bring in a
written letter that addresses your concerns and what you’re
asking from them, background materials about the Campus Campaign,
a researched list of companies that offer organic fair made
cotton clothes, news clippings about organic cotton, hundreds
of signed petitions, and stories about the impact of sweatshop
labor and conventional cotton faming. All of these materials
are included in this tool Kit. Sound passionate and excited
but reasonable and educated. Take their considerations seriously;
they will want to know about costs; availability and design
limitations; how the monitoring works; they will want to be
sure it doesn’t add a bunch of new paperwork for them.
Try to get them to see how important it is for environmental
and social justice reasons, and they’ll be more likely
to take you seriously. Then if they won’t budge, bring
in more creative and stronger tactics. Let them know that
you will help them promote the new products when they make
the switch.
8::
Organize creative actions with your coalition and use the
media. Let your campus community know that you are serious
about bringing organic fair made cotton clothes to your campus.
Set up a website and use mass media to create a public face
to your campaign, and let your administration and student
government officers know you are holding them accountable.
Use your allies- who in Student Government or procurement
offices might support you? Can you do a ballot initiative
or a binding legislative bill rather that a nonbonding resolution?
Use peer pressure- they can’t say it’s impossible
if other schools are already doing it. We can supply you with
a list of colleges that currently offer organic fair made
cotton clothes. And remember, call us if you need any assistance
or ideas- we’re here to support your campaign!
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