A day in the life: Plastic reduction lobby day 2025

Lobby days can be fun, exciting, and make an impact on important issues, and Plastic Reduction Lobby Day on March 20, 2025 was all of those. That Thursday in Springfield I joined community leaders, environmentalists and constituents from around the state to build support and advocate for action to reduce plastic waste. Along with many members of the Coalition for Plastic Reduction we were focused on policies that eliminate some of the worst and most unnecessary types of single-use plastic “stuff” like foam cups and take-out containers.

• We saw progress: Our priority policies passed out of a Senate committee.
• We made connections: Constituents met with their own elected officials to share their passion for the issue.
• We built a buzz: With red “Reduce Plastic” buttons and signs, we shared the message of plastic reduction.

It was a jam-packed day. Here is how my day went.

7am: Breakfast

A bagel with cream cheese and a chai from Custom Cup.

Snap a pic of the capitol building in the morning light.

8am: Prepare materials

With constituents traveling to Springfield from Chicagoland and other parts of the state, my morning was spent with other participants already in town preparing materials. We printed factsheets to leave behind with every legislator we talked to, talking points for constituents to familiarize themselves with the policies and copies of my prepared testimony to have for the scheduled committee meeting. Then we collated folders so folks with early meetings could grab and go.

9:15am: Meeting with IL Senator Laura Fine

Jen Walling from Illinois Environmental Council, Andrea Densham with the Alliance for the Great Lakes and I met with Senator Laura Fine to strategize for the committee hearing and day. Senator Fine is the sponsor of the Farewell to Foam bill, SB1531 to phase out polystyrene foam cups and takeout containers. Working with smart, strategic and passionate advocates and lawmakers is what makes this work possible. Bringing each of our unique skills and perspectives helps to make us all better advocates.

9:50am: Meet up with our lobby day team 

The group was split into smaller teams to work together during the day and meet with legislators. As carpools and the train arrived, our team met up in the rotunda of the capitol building. 

For several team members it was their first time in the capitol, so we took a few minutes to view the stained glass of the dome and the building’s statues and architecture.

10am: Hearing in Senate Environment and Conservation Committee

The Senate Environment and Conservation Committee was holding a hearing on many bills that day including our priorities for lobby day. When SB1531, Farewell to Foam, was called, I joined the bill’s sponsor Sen Laura Fine at the witness table to testify in support.

While only a handful of supporters were able to watch the proceedings of the hearing in person, hundreds of Illinoisans showed their support through action alerts and witness slips. Before any testimony, Senator Ellman, the chair of the committee, announced the number of witness slips that had been filed. 607 of the witness slips were in support of phasing out foam foodware.

And after robust discussion, the bill passed out of committee.

12pm: Check for updates (and photos) from other teams

While I was in the committee hearing, other lobby day participants were meeting with legislators, getting commitments of support and taking lots of great photos of advocacy in action.

12:50pm: Group photo

1pm: Press conference

While we were all together in-person, and had progress to celebrate, we took the opportunity to talk with the press. In addition to myself and Senator Fine, the press conference also featured Charlie, an 11 year old student from Glen Ellyn who spoke about the need to protect future generations from the harm of plastic pollution. It also included Kathy Dibadj, a registered nurse who highlighted the harms to human health posed by plastics and Andrea Densham of the Alliance for the Great Lakes who shared data from their volunteer’s beach cleanups on the pervasive nature of plastic pollution.

Read some of the news coverage. 

2pm onward: Meeting with legislators

The afternoon was spent meeting with legislators. We met with legislators in their offices, caught them in the hallway, even met with some while running up the stairs. Legislators were eager to hear from their constituents about why they had traveled to Springfield to advocate on this issue.

Even if you weren’t with us at lobby day, your legislator wants to hear from you about issues you care about. Send an email to your elected officials asking them to support efforts to say farewell to foam in Illinois.

8pm: Back home and ready to keep campaigning for less plastic

Thank you to everyone at the Coalition for Plastic Reduction, Illinois Environmental Council and all the lobby day participants who made this lobby day a reality.

Thank you to all of the legislators who took time to meet with us, have sponsored or co-sponsored policies to reduce plastic or have committed to supporting these important bills.

I’m always grateful to be able to advocate for solutions that will help to protect the Great Lakes from plastic pollution, and a day like Plastic Reduction Lobby Day reminds me of the amazing community that is making Illinois a cleaner, greener, healthier place for our water, our wildlife and all of us.