CRRA 2023 Conference and Trade Show

Co-Chair

Ruth Abbe is co-chair of the CRRA Global Recycling Council which advocates for:  Zero Waste, End Welfare for Wasting, and Jobs from Design and Discards. She is a Zero Waste practitioner with more than 25 years of experience in recycling and composting program and facility development. As the principal of Abbe & Associates LLC, she is working with municipalities across the U.S. to develop the social and physical infrastructure to achieve Zero Waste.

Behavior Change for Zero Waste through Community-Based Social Marketing

California communities are faced with a dizzing array of impacts (climate change, pandemics, social and political upheaval, generational divides) and must motivate residents and business to change behavior. State law requires communities to reduce waste and increase recycling, composting, and surplus food recovery. Investing in the same strategies over and over again and expecting the same results is an exercise in futility. 

The Community-Based Social Marketing (CBSM) method of outreach and education was created to produce lasting and sustainable changes in the actions people take everyday. Historically, many costly and time-intensive programs fail to drive behavior change due to only addressing economic incentives or attitude change through increased information. Many campaigns have too broad a scope with not enough focus, and with mixed results. Doug McKenzie-Mohr, the author of Fostering Sustainable Behavior-An Introduction to Community-Based Social Marketing, created the CBSM method to address the psychological motivations and barriers that influence people to behave differently. CBSM encourages program administrators to take a systematic, empirical approach to behavior change, thereby maximizing the effectiveness of their program dollars.

Before you invest in that next mailer, social marketing strategy, website redesign, or outreach campaign, come and hear about how to  design behavior change strategies that "stick."