� TheGroundswellCommunityEngagementProcess
Keeping it Clean the Groundswell Community Engagement Strategy
community engagement
There is no doubt that physical contamination of organic waste directly impacts on the cost of processing and the value of the end product. But how do we successfully engage the whole community in organics collections? How do we get universal participation while keeping glass, metal and plastics out of the organic waste stream?
Withalmostuniversalparticipationandcontaminationratesaround0.2%thesystemsforcollectionestablishedbyGoulburnMulwareeCouncilandLachlanCouncilaspartoftheGroundswellCitytoSoilprojectareleadingthewayinSourceSeparationofhouseholdorganics.Thecommunityengagementstrategyadoptedbythecouncilsissimple,cheapandeffectivehoweveritdoeschallengeentrenchedapproachestowasteeducationandtheusualwayofdoingthings.
Simone Dilkara, January 2010
Thetwocouncilshavebeenprovidingacombinedfoodscrapandgardenwastecollectionto�0,800householdsforalmost�6monthsaspartoftheGroundswellCitytoSoilprojectfundedbytheNSWEnvironmentalTrust.TheJan/Feb2009issueofInside Wastehighlightedthelowcontaminationratesachievedbyhouseholdersintheproject.Contaminationrateshaverangedbetween0.076%,0.4%and0.2%overthepasttwoyears.
TheGroundswellCitytoSoilcommunityengagementprogramisbasedontheassumptionthattogetpeopletodosomething,youneedtogivethemthe right tools, information and motivation.
2 TheGroundswellCommunityEngagementProcess
Right Tools
Fundamentallyweneedtomakeiteasyforpeopletodowhatwewantthemtodo.Thechallengehereistofindtoolsthatareuniversallydesirabletouse.
Moreimportantly,thetoolsneedtopassthe’nanna’test.Basically,ifyoucan’tgetyourgrannytousethetools,thenyouhaven’tgottherighttools.Oneofthemainreasonswhypeopledon’tcompostistheydon’tlikethatsmellykitchenbucket.Soweneedasystemthatdoesnotproduceodoursanddoesnotneedwashing.Peopleareusedtoplacingfoodscrapsintoplasticbags,tyingthemupandplacingtheminawheeliebin.Soitmakessensetoreplicatetheseexistingbehaviours.
Thebesttoolswecouldfindareventedkitchenbinsandcompostablebags.Theyworkbecausetheyemulateandimproveonwhatpeoplearedoingalready.Compostablebagsimproveontheexistingsystembecausetheyeliminateodoursinthekitchenandinthewheeliebin.Andyes,my75yearoldmotherhappilyusesherventedbinandcompostablebagstothisday.
� TheGroundswellCommunityEngagementProcess
Right information
Informationaboutthecollectionneedstobeprovidedinwaysthatreacheveryoneinthecommunityregardlessofliteracy.Weneedtoletpeopleknowexactlywhatwewantthemtodoandwhywewantthemtodoit.Thoughtneedstobegiventothetoneofinformationaswellasgraphicsandmedium.
TheGroundswellprojecthasdevelopedhumbletwocolourgraphicsinpreferencetoglossyphotosandkeptinformationrelentlesslyupbeatandassimpleandinclusiveaspossible.Picturesofspecificpeoplewithspecifickitchensandfoodscrapswillalienateanyonewhocannotrelatetothatimage.
Ratherthanworryaboutmultilingualbrochures,informationaboutCitytoSoilhasincludeddrawingswhichexplainwhatwewantwithouttheneedforwordsorliteracy.Theprojecthaspurposefullychosencheaporfreeformsofmediaincludingcouncilmail-outs,pressreleases,updatesinratesnotices,wordofmouth,ablogandsteeredclearofglossyadvertisementstomaintainthesimplicityand‘normalness’ofthecollection.
Oursimple,constantmessageis“ifyouputyourfoodandgardenwasteintothisbin,wewillcompostitandgetitbackintoagriculture.”Itisasimpleandpowerfulmessage.
TheresultispeopleKNOWthateverythingtheyputintheCitytoSoilbinisgoingtoenduponalocalfarmer’spaddock.Thecollectionbecomesaboutfoodandfoodproductionratherthanwasteandgarbage.
Forthismessagetoworkhowever,youneedtoconvincethecommunitythatthisiswhatyouaredoing.Youneedtoshowthemthecompostandshowthemtheoccasionalfarmerandtheoccasionalloadofcompostmadefromtheirfoodandgardenwastebeingappliedtoapaddock.
Aphotoofoneofthemorephotogenicofyourcustomerspreferablyoutinthepaddockwithsomerollinghills,atruckfullofbeautifulcompost,afewsheepandashortpressreleasewithanicejuicyquotefromthefarmerssayinghowwonderfulthecommunityisandhowlovelythecompostis,isalwaysawinner.
4 TheGroundswellCommunityEngagementProcess
For updates and more information on the Groundswell project go to: www.groundswellproject.blogspot.com
Written by Simone Dilkara, 2010. Graphic design/illustration by Carolyn Brooks
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Australia License. It can be downloaded and shared with others, but it can not be changed in any way or used commercially.
The Groundswell Project was assisted by the NSW Government through its Environmental Trust
Motivation
Whatgetspeopletosourceseparatetheirorganics?Whywouldpeopledothis?Formethisisthemostinterestingandcontestedareaofthewasteindustry.Istronglybelievethatcouncils,wastecompaniesandthegovernmentconsistentlyunderestimatethecommunity.Peopleassumethatuniversalparticipationisunachievableandasaresultdesignnoncomplianceintotheirsystems.
Obviouslythereisnosingleuniversalmotivatortogetpeopletocorrectlysourceseparate.Ourresearchshowedthattherewereactuallysix.SpecificallywetrawledthroughtheNSWDECCWWho Cares about the Environment?researchandfoundthatthereweresixreasonswhypeoplemightparticipateanddifferentpeoplewouldrespondtoone,someorallofthosesix.
The six motivators are:
Helpaddressclimatechange
Reducewastetolandfill
Reducewastecosts
Improveagriculturalsoils
Supportlocalfarmers
Winprizes
Byconsciouslyusingcombinationsofallsixmotivatorsinmediareleases,articleandletters,weareabletoreachthewholecommunity.Forexample,someonewhohasnointerestinclimatechangemaybemotivatedbytheprospectofreducedwastecostsorreducedwastetolandfill.
Thepurposeofrunningaprizeprogramforzerocontaminationistorewardpeoplefordoingtherightthing,generatepositivemessagesabouttheprogram,generatecommunityconversationsandtoreinforcethemessagethatCitytoSoilisaboutfoodproductionratherthanwasteorgarbage.Whereverpossible,takeaphotowhenpresentingtheprizesandgetashortquotefromtheprizewinnerforapressrelease.
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Insummary,theGroundswellCitytoSoilCommunityEngagementStrategytapsintoknownmotivatorsandtranscendstherequirementtochangepeople’svalues.Educationmessagesandmaterialshavebeenkeptverysimple.
Theuseofdrawingsandsocialmarketingstrategiesensurespeopledonothavetobeliteratetocorrectlyparticipate.Theprogramtranscendsconventionaleducationstrategieswhichrelyonvalueschangeorenvironmentalawareness.Itisalsonotableforitseaseofimplementation,simplicity,affordabilityandeffectiveness.
Thesuccessoftheeducationprogramisdependantonmakingsurethattherighttoolshavebeenprovided,andthattherightmotivatorshavebeenidentified.Peopleneedtoknowwhatyouwantthemtodoaswellaswhy.Strengtheningthelinkbetweenpeopleandwheretheirfoodcomesfromisintegraltokeepingphysicalcontaminationoutoftheorganicsstream.
Agoodcommunityengagementstrategybuildspositivelinksbetweenhouseholds,councils,processorsandlocalfarmers.Andthatcanonlybeagoodthing.
Thisarticlefirstappearedinthe20�0Jan/FebeditionofInside Waste magazine.
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