How to write a letter about eco-issues

What if you’ve just discovered that your favourite brand of biscuits uses palm oil made from the habitats of orangutans? Or that your federal MP thinks that a 5% reduction in emissions is plenty? Or that your local supermarket doesn’t stock any free-range eggs? What can you do to change the situation?

One of the things that’s often recommended is to write a letter. But for many of us, the last letter we wrote was to apply for a job, which doesn’t help much when asking for a change in business practices or political action.

So how do you write a letter about environmental issues? I’ve written a few letters like this, and have had some good responses. Here are my tips:

• Find out the right person to contact. There’s no point sending a letter to the CEO of a mega-corporation when the person who can actually help you is in the stocking department of your city branch! The right person will vary from one situation to the next, but usually you can find out a name or postal address via their website or the White Pages.
• Plan out your letter. I usually take the following format, with each point taking up one short paragraph:
  1. I explain who I am in relation to them – a customer at their Perth store, a voter in their seat, someone who has had to deal with their department recently.
  2. I explain my problem with their goods or services, or request information from them about their practices or plans. This might include giving them links to websites or articles where they can find out more information, rather than explaining the issue in detail myself.
  3. I tell them what I’d like them to do – stock an alternative product, explain their environmental policy, etc.
  4. I ask them to contact me with their response and provide my preferred contact details (mail, email, telephone) so they can follow up with me.
• Be brief. Remember that the person you’re writing to is very busy and probably hasn’t considered your issue before. So try to keep each paragraph short and to the point. This might seem very abrupt, but I’ve had more responses to my short letters than to the longer ones filled with detail. If they’d like more info from you, they can always write back to request it.
• Be specific. They can’t make a change if they don’t know what you want. A vague demand to “be better for the environment” goes into the too-hard basket, while a request for a particular product or service gives them an achievable task to do. A request for information should be specific too (for example, a copy of their policy on recycling), or you’ll end up with a meaningless form letter written by the marketing staff.
• Always be polite. Everyone responds better to a polite request than to a rant or angry tirade. Most businesses spend tons of money on marketing research, trying to find out what their customers want, and I’ve found that they’re often pleased to have someone just tell them directly for a change! There’s a good chance they’ll be happy to hear from you.
• Follow up. If you get a reply that answers your question perfectly, a very short email or phone call to say thanks is always nice. If they haven’t replied, call their office and ask when you can expect a response. If you only get a form letter back from them that barely addresses the topic, you’ve got a couple of choices: a) be cheeky, and write back to say you’re disappointed that they didn’t include enough information and would like to hear from them soon with an answer, or b) drop it, and take your business (or your vote) elsewhere.

So give it a go next time something is bugging you. Staying silent lets people continue with business as usual – the only way to get a change is to speak up. If you’re not sure how to tackle your specific issue with a letter, let me know in the comments and I’ll give you a hand.