Outagamie County Recycling and Solid Waste

When faced with the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic shutting down in-person education and outreach events, recycling education programs were presented with an opportunity to broaden social media outreach strategies and utilize digital methods to reach residents. Videos were created for social media to combat the recurring contamination problem of plastic bags in the recycling. While it was not a new message that plastic bags were unacceptable, the videos showcasing the problem firsthand helped reinforce existing messages. The character “Philthy Philm” and “Hey it’s Jose” added fun and humor into messaging. “Philthy Philm” was an instant hit increasing the reach from 103 to 24,693 and engagement from 30 to 2,631. After analyzing data the team determined that “Philthy Philm” needed more animation and aggressive bag rips. This led to virtual tours of the recycling facility and the creating of characters such as “Hazardous Hal” and “Polly Styrene.” We congratulate Outagamie County Recycling & Solid Waste on their remarkable work and in the immortal words of “Philthy Philm,” “Don’t be a drag… dump out your bag!”