Verde educates communities with 6Rs recycling campaign

Chesapeake, Virginia-based Verde, which offers Recycling Perks, an incentive program to encourage participation in residential recycling programs, as one of its services, has launched a marketing campaign to educate residents about how they can reduce waste.

The campaign, which is called the 6Rs, strives to teach residents and businesses that recycling is only the fourth step in reducing waste. The group says an important part of its campaign and waste reduction is “closing the loop,” which involves purchasing items made from recycled materials.

“I think we can all agree that recycling is pretty good, but there's a lot more we could be doing to live sustainably,” says Sheridan Boyle, recycling specialist at the city of Clearwater, Florida, Solid Waste and Recycling Department. “Expanding the Rs advocates for residents to improve their lifestyles holistically and gives them a greater say in the effects of their purchases.”

Verde says the 6Rs are things communities can do to close the loop on recycling. The first part of the campaign is to refuse to buy anything that can’t be recycled or has a one-time use. Reducing consumption of single-use or nonrecyclable items is one way to keep waste out of landfills, the company says.

“Recycling is great, but it’s only useful when people buy the recycled material items,” says Sandra Hungate, vice president of Verde and Recycling Perks. “You can close the loop by rebuying items that have been made from recycled materials. They’re becoming more common and easier to find, so don’t forget to look for them when you’re shopping.”

Residents who are eligible for the Recycling Perks program can redeem reward points for discounts from local businesses that support recycling as well as discounts from select national businesses that offer environmentally responsible products, Verde says.

Verde’s campaign consists of:

• a 6Rs video;
• a game at events where residents are invited to create a lunchbox using the 6Rs (available only in Recycling Perks service areas with all-inclusive Verde package);
• social media contests where residents share how they will change their behavior for each R;oOnline ads with the tagline “this waste is Rs.”  

“I appreciate that the 6Rs educate residents to regard recycling as a last option: If you can't refuse it, and you've already reduced and reused it, then you get to give it a new life by recycling it. And finally you get to celebrate your choices by redeeming your Recycling Perks points,” says Boyle.

Verde offers a complete portfolio of services for cities, haulers and others in need of services that will enable them to provide educational resources and media campaigns that encourage responsible recycling. Verde also says it is heavily invested in the use of data as a strategic tool that calculates the effectiveness of campaigns and measures and reports results.