Viewers in the Jackson Hole, Wyo., area have become familiar with a televised skit that asks, “Who wants another?” as a reminder to recycle.
In the skit, a family of three is shown using everything just once, even the toaster. The point of that ad and the campaign in general has been to call attention to the community’s ability to reduce consumption, reuse things and to recycle on a regular basis.
The Reduce, Reuse, Recycle advertising campaign, which started in May of this year, has been a success, according to Larry Jorgenson and his fellow Teton County Commissioners.
The commissioners have allocated $10,000 from this fiscal year’s budget for the ongoing public education effort, and have enlisted support from non-profits such as Jackson Community Recycling, Habitat For Humanity’s ReStore and The Murie Center’s Teton Sustainability Project..
“The County Commission urges our citizens to adopt the three R’s as a conservation ethic,” Jorgenson says. “The solid waste disposal challenges we face are serious, but will be more manageable if each of us increases our individual commitment to reduce, reuse and recycle.”
The best measure of the campaign’s success may be this: On a year-to-year comparison basis, the weight of recyclables collected for the May through July period increased 113 tons, or 14.9 percent, compared to the same period in 2004.
The campaign has had other successes as well. Among them, Wyoming First Lady Nancy Freudenthal has commended organizers for their efforts and their willingness to share the campaign model with other communities.
At its recent annual conference, the Wyoming Solid Waste and Recycling Association awarded the three collaborating organizations recognition as “Recycler of the Year.”
Organizers have enlisted corporate and foundation support as well, securing the support of the Community Foundation of Jackson Hole and a list of sponsoring businesses that include Bresnan Communications, Teton Mountaineering and First Interstate Bank.