Contest fever! - Communities using contests to promote recycling

Last month we told you about Hillsborough County, FL's new contest to promote recycling using images of famous "Bins" posted on billboards and bus sides throughout town. Tallahassee, FL is holding a contest of their own to promote recycling called "Feed your smart cart," which starts today. Check out the details here.

Contests are a fantastic way to generate buzz about your recycling program among residents and the media in your community. Just remember, the simpler the contest the better. Tallahassee, for instance, is simply asking residents to set their recycling carts out on their designated collection day. During the campaign period set-out rates will be counted and the neighborhood with the most carts set out will get a $5 utility bill credit. Simple, yet effective.

Check back next month and we'll post the results!

Has your community executed a simple and effective contest? Or do you have an idea for a contest you want to share? We're all ears! E-mail us at info@recyclecurbside.org or post it in the comments section below.

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Cost effective education strategies: Part Two

For part two of our blog series focusing on cost-effective outreach strategies, we asked our three recycling professionals about their most successful and least successful strategies for cost-effective outreach.

We spoke to:
Kathryn Brown, Waste Reduction Specialist, Solid Waste Management Department, Hillsborough County, FL

Kelley Dennings, Education and Outreach Project Manager, North Carolina Dept. of Environment and Natural Resources, Division of Pollution Prevention and Environmental Assistance

Linda Leighton, Waste Reduction Specialist, City of Raleigh, NC

Here's what they said:
 
KB: The newsletter has always been a very successful outreach tool for Hillsborough County’s recycling program. It generates a lot of bin requests, recycling questions, presentation requests and general interest in our programs from our customers.

Presentations to school and community groups have been effective for the County as well. The reach is smaller, but it allows you to tailor your message to the specific group and really educate people about recycling on a more personal level.

KD: The basketball tournament has been very successful for RE3.org. We participate in the usual Earth Day events every spring, but we also try to conduct outreach at events that are not thought of as environmentally friendly per se. It provides us an opportunity to speak with citizens that we might not normally see. We then provide technical assistance to the event coordinator on how to set up recycling, if it is not currently being collected.

LL: The most successful things we’ve done have been the use of our government access channel; the billboards and truck sides; the direct mail pieces we send out; the magnets; the MRF tours; the events we’ve done with game and prizes; and the e-mail blasts to residents. We love the e-mail blasts because people can keep forwarding them and they get circulated very quickly!

The least successful methods we’ve used have probably been the most expensive (radio ads, television ads, door hangers, etc.) We have community bin drives, but it is very hard to get people to come to them.

Drop us a line! We want to know what successes and failures you've experienced while trying to educate your audience cost-effectivley. E-mail info@recyclecurbside.org.

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"Did You Know?"

Check out this cool video produced by The Economist for their Media Convergence Forum. Contains some very interesting and eye-opening statistics about our use of cell phones, social networking sites and other social media tools.

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, social media is here to stay!

Did this video make an impression? Tell us your thoughts! E-mail us at info@recyclecurbside.org or comment below!

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