Civic Activism
Table of Contents
Types of Civic Activism
Civil Disobedience
"Civil disobedience is the active, non-violent refusal to accept the dictates of governments. It informs them that unjust actions will be opposed and the people will act illegally if pushed to do so.
Civil disobedience causes disruption and focuses attention, while forcing debate with the aim of bringing about fundamental and progressive changes within our societies and our world.
Acts of civil disobedience do not have to be extreme. We can all be activists. Small actions can lead to larger ones, and can provide inspiration to individuals who may be unsure where to funnel their concerns. This in turn can help lay the pathway to further understanding and global change." - https://rebellion.global/blog/2020/11/03/civil-disobedience-examples/
Contact Your Representative
Unless politicians know what their constituents want and need, they are unlikely to provide things we desperately need to help the environment and our communities. When people remain silent on issues, it's easy for politicians to assume "no one cares" but by phoning, writing, and messaging these leaders, we can encourage them to make meaningful choices that will help both ourselves and generations to come!
Click the Contact Your Rep button to learn more about how to communicate important information to a representative, how to find the right person, and a growing, international directory to help you find your rep.
Lawsuits
Were You Misled by Seafood Scams?
Have you been affected by a retailer's seafood sustainability claims?
"1-800-law-firm understands that the sustainable label increases sales of fish products, but in some cases, that label is misleading as it hides from public view the “non-sustainable” practices engaged in by certain fisheries. Some “certifiers” have no enforcement of their own standards which results in massive abuses including, injuries and death to large numbers of marine mammals, sea turtles, and sharks due to preventable incidental bycatch and entanglements in discarded fishing gear.
Our team is investigating claims that any retailer selling commercially caught fish and seafood certified by MSC cannot truthfully claim that their products are “certified sustainable seafood”. If you purchased a seafood product based on a retailer's sustainability claims and feel that you were misled, visit our website at https://www.mscseafoodclaims.com/ and fill out the form to schedule a no-obligation, free claim review."
Voting
Voting is a vital, but often overlooked way to help our planet and the people we care about. In the USA, apparently 50% of environmentalists don't actually vote even if they are registered. The more of us who vote all over the world, the more Earth-friendly representatives we could potentially have writing laws, supporting a green shift, and holding polluters accountable.
Click the Vote button to learn if and how you can register to vote, where to vote, and more. Please be patient as some of our pages need some more work. If we're missing info for your area, please let us know.
Whistleblowing
International
North America
USA
The Whistleblower Protection Program "You have the right to report if your workplace is unsafe."
Federal Whistleblower Rights and Protections Videos from the U.S. Office of Special Counsel
Whistleblower Support Organizations and Legal Resources "The following nonprofit organizations either offer legal representation of whistleblowers or have extensive experience working with whistleblowers and can provide referrals to experienced attorneys. Further, the Project On Government Oversight has developed a menu of law firms that have experience working with whistleblowers, available here."
Groups & Organizations
Extinction Rebellion "Our strategy is one of non-violent, disruptive civil disobedience – a rebellion. We need you – whoever you are, however much time you have to offer. Together we're building a powerful movement that is participatory and inclusive. Together we're unstoppable."
NAVS Advancing Science without Harming Animals "With your help, we can put an end to harmful, flawed and costly animal experiments through the advancement of smarter, human-relevant research and the promotion of animal-friendly changes to laws and policies."
North America
Canada
Vegan Option Canada (VOC) "is a nationwide grassroots political activism organization that aims to ensure vegan options are available in a variety of areas, particularly vegan food options. Its founding principles are horizontality, decentralization of power, and a pragmatic approach based on the values of compassion and non-violence."
USA
ACLU "Abortion care, trans people's right to live freely, people's right to vote - our freedoms are at stake and we need you with us. Donate today and fuel our fight back in courts, statehouses, and nationwide."
AFA Legislation "Agriculture Fairness Alliance is a vegan backed Lobbying Group, who advocates for fairness in US agriculture policy and laws, in order to benefit farmers who practice non-exploitative and sustainable farming practices, to benefit animals, to benefit consumers, and to benefit the environment. AFA just launched their At Risk Farmers Act, modeled off of Rowdy Girl Sanctuary’s Rancher Advocacy Program."
The Bail Project "The Bail Project National Revolving Bail Fund is a critical tool to prevent incarceration and combat racial and economic disparities in the bail system."
Bike Law Network "We are a network of independent bicycle crash lawyers who share a common approach to the law and to helping cyclists. Our bike crash attorneys have handled thousands of personal injury cases on behalf of cyclists. We know the difference between a bicycle accident and bicycle crash, and why it matters. Our goal is to be bicycle advocates as well as legal advocates, and to pursue cycling justice."
Campaign Legal Center "The nonpartisan Campaign Legal Center advances democracy through law at the federal, state and local levels, fighting for every American’s rights to responsive government and a fair opportunity to participate in and affect the democratic process."
Legal Defense Fund "(LDF) is America’s premier legal organization fighting for racial justice. Using the power of law, narrative, research, and people, we defend and advance the full dignity and citizenship of Black people in America."
Lobby4Good "Hire a lobbyist for the issues and causes that matter to you" "Make real change in Congress and get your voice heard"
California
Civic Well "supports leaders responding to the climate crisis and its impact on their communities. As a nonprofit organization, we inspire, equip, connect, and cultivate leaders working toward a more sustainable and resilient future.
We know that innovation happens when communities name their own challenges and define their own visions. Through policy guidance, collaborative partnerships, and direct assistance, we support and equip communities to bring those visions to life."
Oceana
Australia
Vegan Australia: Campaigns " plans to initiate a number of campaigns directed towards promoting a vision of a vegan world."
Tools
North America
Canada
https://twitter.com/FedLobBot "Automatically tweets when Big Oil lobbies the Canadian federal government, usually to get more subsidies and block #ClimateAction"
USA
Rewiring America: Track Your Local Pace of Progress "These projections from Rewiring America worked backwards from the emissions targets for 2050, and forward from current sales of machines for cooking, water heating, space heating, transportation, and rooftop solar to set a number of new clean electric machines that must be sold each year to reduce emissions from fossil-fueled machines. Type your city, county, or state into the search bar to get those numbers broken down for your area, by each machine category.
While creating this tool, one of things we found is that some individual communities and states are leading the way: their goals are bolder than the rest of the country and so don’t match the path laid out in our data. That’s a great problem to have. So our tool should not be considered the only source of its kind -- but one that reflects only one of the possible paths to decarbonization."
Education & Training Opportunities
North America
USA
Dream Justice Cohort "is a training program created to provide justice-impacted leaders with the skills they need to change the criminal justice system – from organizing and advocacy to media skills. Participants are joined by our talented staff and previous cohort graduates and receive the most innovative training for justice leaders across the country."
California
Justice Next Cohort "a skill-building and leadership development program to empower and equip the next generation of individuals who are impacted by the criminal justice system or the climate crisis. We are now accepting applications from eligible BIPOC young adults between 18 - 24 years of age living in Sacramento, California."
Maps
International
More People Care About Climate Change than You Think "The majority of people in every country support action on climate, but the public consistently underestimates this share."
Grants
International
Animal Charity Evaluators "ACE Movement Grants (formerly “Effective Animal Advocacy Fund”) is for anyone who is interested in making the animal advocacy movement more effective."
EA Animal Welfare Fund "The Animal Welfare Fund supports advocacy, research, and movement-building work aimed at improving the wellbeing of nonhuman animals, primarily farmed and wild animals. This includes corporate and policy advocacy, research, and the promotion of alternative products."
The Pollination Project (TPP) "is a vegan foundation that offers seed funding to grassroots activists working to build a kinder, more compassionate world for human & non-human animals.
TPP focuses on early stage ideas and funds individuals directly. Over the years, they’ve seen the power of bottom-up, community-led grassroots activism. Through “pollination philanthropy”– a democratic model of peer-to-peer decision-making — TPP works with a global network of grantees, community partners, and volunteer advisors to identify extraordinary project leaders who, due to the grassroots nature of their work, are often not in a position to receive funding from other foundations or institutions.
They make micro grants 365 days a year to grassroots global change agents and have a growing global community of 4,500 grassroots leaders in 150 countries. They support vegan outreach projects around the world, and have a special program for farmed animal activists in Brazil, India and Mexico. Their goal is to offer not just seed funding, but capacity-building support and connectivity with other activists working in the same geographic or issue area. "
North America
USA
Dream.Org Empathy Network Leadership Fund "The Justice team at Dream.Org is looking to partner with directly impacted leaders at the state and local levels. The Dream.Org Empathy Network Leadership Fund is an opportunity to apply for a grant of up to $2,500 to support your activism. And the sky’s the limit!"
Justice Innovation Prize "is an open call for innovative, impactful, feasible, and scalable ideas to end the cycle of mass incarceration. The Justice Innovation Prize Pitch competition is free and open to the public. Watch the Justice Innovation Prize Documentary."