CRRA 2022 Conference & Tradeshow

Senior Associate

Data is important for understanding baseline information and tracking trends, but it also directly informs education and outreach messaging. This session will focus on food scrap participation and will draw upon Gigantic Idea Studio’s survey and cart spot check results for the Cities of Livermore and Milpitas. We will look at eight years of cart spot check data from Livermore, compare a resident survey from 2014 to one conducted in 2022, and see how collected data has informed outreach content over the years.  A recent drop in organics cart participation prompted the Livermore Recycles team to take a close look at outreach efforts to see how to reinvigorate residents around recycling right. In Milpitas, changes in service and a new hauler led to dissatisfaction around rate increases, and confusion about the new food scrap recycling program. The Milpitas team used a survey to understand the community’s concerns and cart audits to check actual behavior and collect food scrap participation data. Using this information, a messaging plan was created to address barriers and benefits and increase a sense of value of the new and improved services.

Session participants will gain insight into how data can inform and improve campaigns at strategic and tactical levels and get some nuts-and-bolts tips about creating and interpreting resident surveys, including their uses and drawbacks.

Project Manager

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.

Environmental Programs Specialist

The City of Sunnyvale rolled out its first food scraps collection program in 2017 using a split cart-design for both garbage and food scraps. After running for three years, the City wanted to conduct outreach to address community feedback. In order to craft effective messaging, more information was needed. Sunnyvale, with the help of Gigantic Idea Studio, conducted an online survey and cart inspections to gather data on attitudes, barriers, benefits and observed vs. self-reported participation rates.

After collecting this data, Sunnyvale and Gigantic Idea Studio crafted a campaign using videos, social media promotions, print ads and city newsletter articles. They also conducted a cart tagging pilot program. Cart audits were conducted before and after cart tagging to compare changes in measured participation rates in the three pilot groups. Each group received a different tag: A) “Social Norming”, B) “Barriers”, and C) Control (no tags).

Attendees will learn how to conduct research cost-effectively, and how to use that research to craft messaging using social marking practices such as social norming and addressing barriers and benefits. They will also learn how one Bay Area community responded to a novel food scraps program—one that uses a split garbage cart instead of the traditional yard trimmings/organics carts.