Journal 10: Getting Started with the Proposal

Subject: What is my proposal about? What is it not about?

This proposal will focus on the copious amounts of waste and litter that are alongside the

freeway and in other open spaces such as arroyos, parks, and trails in Albuquerque. This is an

important issue to highlight because the impact is significant. Not only does this make

Albuquerque look less clean, it is unsanitary as people and animals can come into contact with

this waste and be seriously harmed. This proposal is not about unhoused individuals. There was a

suggestion in the discussion that homeless individuals would need to be the main focus of this

proposal as they contribute to this issue. However, that is a different topic entirely and is not

what this proposal will be about. Rather this proposal will focus on the policies and procedures

that can be enacted to reduce illegal dumping and cleaning of these areas.

Purpose: What is my proposal meant to achieve?

This proposal is meant to be used to provoke community interest in this issue as well as reach

local officials so that changes to the policies and practices in Albuquerque can happen which will

ensure that waste and litter will be removed and then continue to stay off the sides of roads,

streets, and other open areas.

Readers: Who will read my proposal and what are their motives, values, attitudes, and emotions?

What is their economic, educational, and cultural background? What power do they have to

effect change toward this issue?

One main audience for my proposal will be members of Albuquerque’s communities. This issue

has an impact on the community directly because it impacts wildlife, children, adults, and the

appearance of this city. By highlighting these facts, the goal is to get these individuals involved

so that they can also help spread awareness and stop dumping trash. It will also create a wave of

people who want to see change which can put pressure on officials to make these choices. The

motives of the individuals of Albuquerque are to live in safe and clean neighborhoods. Their

values are protecting themselves and their loved ones from being exposed to the waste and litter

in their city. Their attitude could be apprehensive if they believe that the waste is not a problem

or if they think it will cost them too much money to make these changes, but after this proposal

hopefully they could see the importance and their attitude will be in favor of making these

changes. Their emotions might be upset that the waste has gotten to this point so then their

emotions would be happy that there are efforts to clean and remove this issue. The individuals

who are directly impacted live in neighborhoods with waste close to their homes, but everyone in

Albuquerque should be concerned with this issue. That means some people come from every

economic, educational, and cultural background and can all come together to enact change by

wanting local officials to make changes and also by stopping or helping the stop illegal dumping.

The second audience is these officials who can enact changes on a legal level. Right now there

are programs and policies enacted that make dumping trash in open spaces illegal. However,

these programs are limited as they require a report from other individuals and then they give the

perpetrator 30 days to clean their spaces. Instead, there should be harsher punishments for this

act. The motives of these officials are to maintain peace within the community but they also are

trying to do this with the least amount of changes. Their values are to keep Albuquerque clean

because it has a direct impact on the value of the city. The attitude might be negative as they do
not want the individuals of the community to demand change but they also could be open to

making these changes as it will have a positive impact on the city. The emotions of these

individuals could be negative at first because this might be something that they don’t want to

focus on but then it could be happy if this makes a major change to the value of the city. These

officials come from different cultural and educational backgrounds, but economically that is

where there could be challenges. Funding for a project like this could cost a lot and not be a

priority so that is why this proposal must be convincing enough to enact these changes. These

individuals have a lot of power to make these decisions as they can create bills that could have a

huge impact.

Context: How will the physical, economic, ethical, and political circumstances affect how my

proposal is received?

The physical circumstances are of the utmost importance as they have a significant impact on

how this proposal is received. By providing evidence of the amount of waste and how it hurts the

aesthetics and nature of Albuquerque, this proposal could show why there need to be changes.

The economic circumstances have an impact on how receptive both the individuals in the

community and officials are to this proposal. The community members might be concerned that

this will cost too much of their own money and disagree with the proposal. The officials might

have concerns that it will also cost too much and not make any changes at all. This is why in this

proposal the most cost-effective strategies must be presented. Ethical circumstances are of high

importance for this proposal as this is a major area of why cleaning is important. By highlighting

how waste has negative impacts on the safety of animals, humans, nature, etc., this proposal will

be received highly as this is the responsibility of these officials. Lastly, the political
circumstances could also be used in favor of how the proposal is received as many individuals in

Albuquerque care about the environment and want to do what they can to protect it. This will be

a part that is highlighted as well.