� 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.