NRC Congress: The Public Eye

The media and the public are more receptive than ever to environmental causes, and using their hunger for information is an ideal way to promote recycling programs, according to Tom Watson of the King County Solid Waste Division, Seattle, who addressed attendees of a panel discussion entitled “Cost-Effective Outreach Programs That Really Work,” at the National Recycling Coalition (NRC) Congress & Expo held recently in Denver.

“This is a golden moment for the environment,” he said. Watson said that program directors can capitalize on the popularity of environmental issues and think beyond traditional media advertising to spread their message. He advocated using local media, but in an editorial capacity, by pitching story ideas for editorial coverage as a way to draw attention to recycling. “Getting press for the environment is like shooting fish in a barrel,” he said. Watson suggested cultivating relationships with reporters and contributing ideas for stories or regular content. “We have to do outreach on the public and media’s terms,” he said.

Any Likes, of the Vandiver Group Inc., St. Louis, recommended using word-of-mouth to get information out about recycling programs. “Get the right information to the right people and it spreads like wildfire,” he said.

He discussed his work in the St. Louis suburb of St. Charles, Mo., which had a failing recycling program with 15 to 25 percent participation rates. Likes said there was a small group of very dedicated recyclers in that community and that by using them as a resource, the program was able to attract more participation.

Through research, Likes’ organization found a lot of misinformation in the community about the recycling program. “The survey was scary,” he said. Some 19 percent of those residents surveyed thought they paid extra for recycling services. Some people also thought the same truck collected both trash and recyclables and that no real recycling was happening, Likes said.

Another outreach strategy employed in the case of St. Charles was getting the city to take ownership of the program, as well as reaching out to the community’s children. “If you get kids involved, the information gets home,” he said.

Carolyn Smith of Anoka County, Minn., also spoke on the panel about her experience with Anoka County’s Rethink Recycling program. The Minneapolis/St. Paul metro area also reached a point where participation had reached a plateau and tonnages had leveled off. The county identified several barriers to increased participation, the chief of which was miscommunication, inconsistent terminology and a lack of coordination.

Smith said she found that disseminating consistent information in a simple format was the most effective way to get the word out about the program. In addition to putting out toolkits containing simple “yes/no” lists about recyclable materials, the county also employed alternative advertising techniques, like placing more than 200 ads in bathrooms, as well as using Web and TV advertising.

The NRC Congress & Expo was held Sept. 16-19 in Denver. More information is available at www.nrc-recycle.org.