No Room to Waste in this Space
Track
Outreach
Speakers
Chelsea Nelson, Action Research
Title
Project Manager
Speaker Abstract
Residential food scraps collection programs often deliver kitchen pails to residents along with the do's and don'ts of program participation. How do agencies go about deciding what information to put on the pail? How much information (space) is needed on the pail to help residents make accurate decisions about what goes inside?
In 2021, in collaboration with the Salinas Valley Solid Waste Authority, we conducted a web-based survey to test the number of icons (2, 3, or 4) needed on the pail to represent each of four food categories - fruits, vegetables, meats, and grains. We tested how to convey "no" items - icons only, icons & text, or text only, and do cheese and egg icons represent the variety of dairy items.
The web survey was sent out by two jurisdictions in the Salinas Valley Region. There were 194 completed surveys. The survey was administered in English and Spanish.
Respondents were randomly assigned to receive different surveys that displayed two, three, or four icons for each food category. Respondents were shown one set of icons followed by a list of food items and asked to choose the items they think belong in the category represented by the icons. The number of correct items were summed and compared across the two-, three-, and four-icon groups. The results demonstrated that using two icons was sufficient to represent each of the food categories, "no" items were best addressed using text, and supplemental materials were needed to assist with seeds, pits, bones, and spoiled foods.