It’s been proven that people tend to be more open to changing routine behaviours during times of transition. In that light, the Fall offers a golden opportunity to educate residents about ways to change their habits to tune up their recycling performance.
If you’re planning your Fall or Winter campaign, this blog offers a reminder of the many free resources, tracking components, and training opportunities that will support your efforts.
Image databanks & other online resources
Consider aligning your campaign with other programs by accessing free, unbranded graphics and ready-to go ads from the sources below:
- CIF’s P&E Tools and Guidance
- Resource Productivity and Recovery Authority’s In-Kind program
- Carton Council of Canada Image and Ad Databank
- Stewardship Ontario Image Databank & Resources
- CIF Reports page (hint – use ‘ctrl f’ or ‘cmd f’ to search for “P&E”)
Measuring the impact of your campaign
Staff need to plan campaigns to measure impacts and demonstrate value for money, which makes tracking and reporting the impacts, a top priority.
Online analytics provide quick and cost-effective access to high level statistics. If driving residents to your website or using Facebook ads are a component of your campaign, you will have immediate access to these user traffic statistics. Don’t forget to set them up before your campaign goes live!
At the other end of the tracking spectrum are waste composition studies, which are costly, but provide physical and quantitative evidence of behaviour change. Check out the CIF Waste Composition Study page for more information and to learn about funding opportunities.
And… it’s hard to avoid working with Excel spreadsheets to track costs and impacts. If this isn’t your specialty, consider working with your finance department to set up spreadsheets that match campaign activities to purchase orders, invoices and other costing information. This will streamline internal reporting processes, keep you on budget and in the good books with your finance department.
Training
The CIF has provided training opportunities for municipal waste management professionals to hone their P&E skills. Check out the CIF training webpage and the links below for course offerings and availability.
- CIF Training webpage
- Communication 2.0: How to Communicate for Behaviour Change
- CIF’s Fundamentals in Recycling Planning
Presentations from Ontario Recycler Workshops (ORW)
Several leading edge P&E projects have been featured in ORW presentations, which are archived on the CIF website and can be accessed at any time: CIF ORW archive
Don’t miss this opportunity to connect with your residents
Fall is a perfect time of year for residents to act on the messages you share and to translate new information into changes in their recycling behaviours. We encourage you to use all available resources to support your P&E campaigns and share your results with CIF staff.
Got proven strategies of your own?
Let us know and we may feature your program in one of CIF’s future blogs!
Contact CIF Staff
CIF staff members are always ready to help. Please contact any member of the team to discuss your issues and questions.
Back to School Ideal Time for Change
“The end of summer and the anticipation of heading back to school has created for many a sense that September brings fresh starts. That’s why it’s often an ideal time to introduce new ideas and to launch promotion and education campaigns. But it’s also useful to keep in mind that women, typically the target audience for recycling messages, will be focused on getting kids ready for and off to school during the first part of September. So, it’s usually worthwhile to schedule campaign kick-offs mid-way through the month,” commented Barbara McConnell, President of McConnell Weaver Strategic Communication, who provides communication consulting and program implementation services about waste resources recovery and end-of-life waste management to public and private sector clients, including municipalities.