How to Write a Letter Asking a Company to Stop Using Plastic Packaging

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Here is our guide to help you provide feedback to companies and politicians so they can work towards preserving our environment and practicing environmentally friendly business practices.

Below are three email letter templates you can use to create your own feedback to businesses and legislators.

Letter to Reduce and Remove The Use of Plastic in Packaging

Hello [Company Name],

My name is [Name] and I recently purchased a few items from your online store. I have been a fan of your brand for many years.

Recently, I noticed that some of your packaging was non-recyclable. [List what parts of the packaging were unsustainable].

I have been practicing a zero-waste lifestyle by refusing to use single-use plastics and making the best effort to divert trash from landfills. Businesses that are dependent on single-use plastics are contributing to many of our environmental problems.

These plastics take over 500 years on average to decompose and end up polluting our oceans, lands, animals, and sitting in landfills for longer than the lifecycle of the actual product.

Unfortunately, this means that [product] can no longer be part of my routine because it contains packaging that is non-sustainable and harmful to our environment.

I would love to continue supporting you. I would like to suggest a few options to make your business more sustainable.

[List 2-3 options for alternative packaging]

I would love to cooperate with you in some form thereafter to promote your sustainable practices with my friends and family.

I really appreciate your consideration in regards to this issue and hope to hear back from you. Thank you for your time.
Sincerely,

[Your Full Name]

[Contact Information]

Letter to Your Representative to Take Climate Change Action

Dear [representative name],

Hello, my name is [name] and I’m a resident of [your city/town]. I urge you to create a climate action plan in order to reduce our carbon emissions and fight the impending climate crisis.

Last year [share your personal story about how climate change is affecting you]. As the climate here gets more and more variable, this trend will continue. Not only for me personally, but in the whole community I live in and love.

Studies are grim: [cite any relevant resources and specific data to illustrate the severity of your request. Examples can be increases in temperature, decrease in the population of animals, etc.]

As I’m sure you already know, [highlight comparable cities] have already adopted climate resolutions amid widespread support from all residents – in particular the youth who will have to face the devastating effects of the climate crisis. That fact is not only an exciting path to follow, but an urge to catch up so that our city doesn’t fall behind and lose its reputation for innovation.

We call for the implementation of a climate action plan.

Thanks so much for taking the time to listen to my concerns. We need to continue to strive for a world that will last for generations to come. Our economic development and community prosperity is dependent on how our planet can continue to support human life. I look forward to hearing about what positive changes we can see in our sustainability policy moving forward.

Sincerely,

[your full name]

[contact information]

[location and address]

Letter to the Editor

In case you don’t know, a letter to the editor is something that appears in a local/national newspaper. It’s an opinion – in this case, we’re focusing on a policy or action you want your representatives to take (or not take!). These are old-school but effective because while your representatives probably aren’t reading your IG stories, they’re definitely reading the local paper.

Because what you write about in a letter to the editor depends so much on your specific situation, a few tips before we look at a sample:

Start with a personal appeal. Why does this matter to you; and by extension, why should it matter to the reader?
Make a logical argument. Why is the current policy the wrong choice? Alternatively, why is this a good policy to enact?
Demand a response. What do you want your representative and/or community to actually do? Always leave them with an action item!
Follow the instructions! Most letters to the editor have a strict word count and other must-haves regarding formatting. Pay attention!

Sample letter to the editor that I wrote:

As a co-founder of Lafayette Climate, a group of citizens ready and excited for climate action, I first want to extend a thank you to Lafayette Mayor Tony Roswarski for preparing the report on a climate resolution at the most recent city council meeting.

But we urge the mayor and city council to address the climate resolution as it must be addressed — as an emergency. A recent Purdue Exponent piece suggests the hope is to adopt “a goal of carbon neutrality by 2040.” Unfortunately, that goal is not in line with the very clear messages from climate scientists across the globe as well as close to home here at Purdue.

Per a UN report released this week, we require a global emission reduction of 7.6% per year. Such drastic reductions are not impossible, but become more and more so if we move forward with a climate resolution process that the Mayor proposed “with no timeline”.

Read more: How to recycle clothes (and why you 100% shouldn’t)

From Purdue scientists to city workers, to concerned parents, to local business owners, to city and county council members, we have been fortunate to connect with passionate, highly-intelligent people at Lafayette Climate events. These people recognize the complexities of tackling an existential crisis cannot paralyze us into inaction.

Action — not just words — must exist to create a resilient city and a leader of the Midwest and beyond. Lafayette Climate looks forward to seeing action — not just words — from the city and its citizens as we face this existential crisis together.