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Developing a Residential Curbside Recycling Education Program
Nathalie Bowers, Public Information Officer, ECUA
This eSession will describe how The Emerald Coast Utilities Authority (ECUA) developed and launched its curbside recycling public education campaign. Participants will learn how ECUA’s Public Information staff rode the highs and lows of the program’s launch, pitfalls and lessons learned, to soundly surpass their goals.
The ECUA launched its Residential Curbside Recycling Program in January, 2009. As a strictly voluntary program, a successful, comprehensive public education campaign was critical to assure its successful launch, growth and continued positive development.
Guided by its Mission Statement and corresponding Core Values of Environmental Stewardship, Quality Service and Reasonable Price, the Public Information staff developed a focused public education/public information campaign to ensure residents not only embraced the program at its inception, but continued to participate through ease of use and convenience.
The webinar will explain how a targeted public education effort was developed with a modest annual public information budget of $25,000. Their efforts included radio and print ads, outdoor advertising, truck signage, media communications and events, and an informational package for the “new residential recycling participant.”
ECUA’s goal at the program’s launch was to reach a 20% level of participation by the first 6 months of the program, and 40% by the end of the program’s first year. The Residential Curbside Recycling Program has met its goals and continues to break participation records as it expands its services and capabilities.
For registrations or more information, please click here.