2007 Municipal Recycling Supplement - Welcome

PUBLIC EDUCATION

Public education is a vital component to the success of a community’s curbside recycling program. In this year’s Municipal Recycling Supplement, we provide two examples of cities that have successfully incorporated educational efforts as part of their curbside recycling programs.

Recognizing the importance of education, the city of El Paso, Texas, has figured the cost of such a program into its recycling contract with its processor Friedman Recycling. The city has committed $150,000 per year to public education for the first five years of its 15-year curbside recycling contract. Additionally, Friedman Recycling is contractually obligated to provide similar support throughout the life of the contract.

City personnel are also working with Keep America Beautiful affiliate Keep El Paso Beautiful, having conducted more than 200 recycling informational presentations to neighborhood associations and organizations throughout El Paso in an effort to increase participation and reduce contamination.

El Paso has also signed on a local advertising agency to provide copywriting, media buying, art preparation and broadcast creative supervision.

Public education also factors into the success of the curbside recycling program in place in Baton Rouge, La. The city incorporates a variety of methods to reach residents, including using the grassroots press, inserts in residents’ monthly water/sewer bills, bag stuffers in local grocery stores, paid and donated ads in local papers and displays in city libraries, most of which are affordable options for many communities.

As a Curbside Value Partnership (CVP) city, Baton Rouge also has launched a major ad campaign designed to further boost recycling participation. The "Cart It! Create a Recycling Tradition" campaign encourages Baton Rouge residents who do not recycle to begin doing so through print, radio and grassroots media placements.

For those communities that don’t belong to the CVP, a program sponsored by the Aluminium Association and the Can Manufacturers Institute and their funding members, the partnership offers an educational tool kit through www.recyclecurbside.org that is available for free. The site promises to teach visitors "the basics for effective education campaigns," offering sections on public relations, media and social marketing and reaching youth and multilingual residents.

Baton Rouge and El Paso are only two examples of communities that are successfully using a variety of media to reach residents with the recycling message. I hope they can provide inspiration to our readers who are currently faced with getting the word out about their communities’ recycling programs.