Flyers and Petitions

Flyering and petitioning are essential
to getting the word out about smart meters.

You can leave flyers at people's doors or newspaper boxes and on bulletin boards. Talk to people. Petition! The petitions will be used to influence our legislators and the Attorney General and governor, and can also be used for local elected officials. This article has some information on flyering. Please consider having the Smart Meter Education Network give a talk in your city. We attract many people when you pass out flyers for talks. As always, if you need more information, please contact us.

All these flyers can be posted on bulletin boards. Post wherever you can.

 

 

Flyers

The best way to copy these flyers is to put them on a flash (thumb) drive and take the flash drive to a copy shop. Many copy shops also let you email them a document. The quality will be much better from a copy shop than if you print a copy off your printer, and it will also be cheaper for you.

Analog Meter Choice Bill Flyer

Flyer on House Bill 4220. Hard-hitting, this flyer lists cost, health, and privacy issues and encourages people to write their state representatives.  It provides a good summary of the reasons to refuse a smart meter. For more information on the bill, see Opt-Out Legislation.

It is illegal to put flyers in mailboxes.

---

“Unexplained Illness? It Could Be Your Electric Meter” (especially useful for areas where smart meters
have already been installed)

For DTE customers
For any utility

This flyer is designed to alert people to the health issues they may be experiencing as a result of smart meters. It is designed to grab their attention even if they have never heard of smart meters. It is especially useful for areas where smart meters have already been installed, but can also be used to alert people in areas that haven’t been installed.

You can use this flyer as a single page. You can also fold it to make a brochure. Click here to learn how to do this. The flyer is more appealing as a brochure, and it’s fairly quick to do this.

It is illegal to put flyers in mailboxes.

---

Consumers Energy—“My New Electric Meter Does What???”

Business card size
Postcard size

Succinct information on smart meters. Useful to hand out to people you have discussed smart meters with. Useful as an adjunct to the Ticking Time Bomb or Opt-Out flyer.

It is illegal to put flyers in mailboxes.

---

Main Informational Flyer—“A Ticking Time Bomb”

This two-page flyer give you useful information about why health is affected, some of the symptoms, how radiofrequency and dirty electricity work, explains why the opt-out is bad, encourages people to resist DTE, and much more. Hand this flyer out to people when you pass out the petition. Post it on bulletin boards and at coffee shops. Flyer homes with it.

It is illegal to put flyers in mailboxes.

---

Opt-Out Flyer

Color / Black & White

This flyer can be passed out in areas that are being installed or areas that have already been installed. It alerts people to why the opt-out is not a solution (health, privacy, costs, data being sold), encourages them to lock their meter, and tells a personal story of how smart meters have severely affected the health of a mother and her son. We recommend passing this flyer out in all areas scheduled for installation, along with the Ticking Time Bomb flyer.

It is illegal to put flyers in mailboxes.

---

Smart Meter Education Network Business Card

Lists the main points of why people should fight smart meters, provides contact information. Print yourself, or email us and we can send you some.  The card will print correctly. It is formatted as you see for proper printing and cutting.

It is illegal to put flyers in mailboxes.

---

DTE — “ My New Electric Meter Does What???

Business-card size.
Postcard size.
Succinct information on smart meters. Useful to hand out to people you have discussed smart meters with. Useful as an adjunct to the Ticking Time Bomb or Opt-Out flyer.

It is illegal to put flyers in mailboxes.

---

Flyer—Fires, Invasion of Privacy, Radiation Sickness, Dead Plants and Bees

A graphic flyer especially designed for bulletin boards. Post a few at a time so people can take one home.

It is illegal to put flyers in mailboxes.

---

5G flyer and 5G business cards

5G flyer and 5G business cards.  5G is millimeter wavelength radiofrequency technology that would be installed on every 2-10 utility poles, and will go through even concrete. The Michigan Legislature is attempting to rush legislation through that would pave the way for telecoms to install without any oversight by local governments, and would exempt them from paying any fees for using public rights of way. SB 637 (Senate Bill 637).

It is illegal to put flyers in mailboxes.

---

 

Petitions

Petitions
Legal size
8 ½ x11 size
We have to show that there are a lot of people behind us. Petitioning allows us to reach people we would never reach otherwise. Few people know about smart meters, but once they know, most of them sign the petition. Presenting it as people's right to a choice is a major point to bring up. Click here for information on what you can say to people (sample spiel) and some steps for getting people to sign the petition.

We have found that when you petition, you usually find one person almost every time who is willing to get more involved. This means they may be willing to start petitioning too! This multiplies our effect exponentially. The fact of going out and getting actual signatures makes a difference to the legislators, especially since they know you've made personal contact with people. Make sure to get your friends and family to sign, too.

Great places to petition: festivals, summer fairs, your own political groups, Mom2Mom sales, outside the library or any public area. Also for health-care practitioner offices or any other small business. Be sure to offer a flyer to anyone who signs the petition. It will provide them with additional information, and gives them the Smart Meter Education Network contact information.
If people are interested in the issue, be sure to encourage them to provide their email address. Emphasize that they will not be inundated with email. Tell them that the newsletter will give them very important information on further actions they can take to preserve their health and privacy. Please read the information on what you can say to people (sample spiel) and some steps for getting people to sign the petition for more information on this, and other tips.

People have asked us about the legality of petitioning. You are allowed to petition on any public space and to go to the door of any home. You are not selling anything. If you were selling something, you would have to have a permit. You are exercising your free speech rights, just like any other group. This petition is not a ballot initiative, so you don’t have to separate people by where they live.

---

Gathering Petition Signatures—What to Say and What to Do (Sample Spiel)
Here are some steps to getting people to sign the petition and some ideas on what you can say to them. Telling people it is about choice, even if they don’t care if they have a smart meter on their home, is a really good selling point.

 

 

Newsletter, Facebook—Stay Up to Date

Stay up to date by subscribing to our newsletter (it comes out every 1 to 4 weeks). We constantly update our website, so check back often. You can find updates and time-sensitive actions to take under our “Alerts and Breaking News” box. We also use Facebook to send out quick news updates. (While we understand the privacy concerns with Facebook, at this point in time it is a useful tool for us, and is a great way to spread the word about smart meters. If you only wish to use Facebook for access to our updates, you can get an account without revealing personal information—it’s all in what you choose to share, and you can give them any name or birthdate you like.)

Our newsletter comes out every 1 to 4 weeks. It will keep you informed and tell you what actions you can take to fight smart meters. Note that most email programs will filter out our newsletter unless you adjust your email settings. Even though you may receive individual emails from us, when we send the newsletter out to a large group, the emails may be placed in a folder other than your inbox. This happened to us! We weren’t even getting our own newsletter.. Please make sure you look for emails from smartmetereducationnetwork@ gmail. com in your Promotions, Spam, Junk, or other folders. Please contact your email provider to learn how to adjust your settings, or search on the internet.