Food scrap and organics collection programs pose a challenge to public agencies in terms of low participation and high contamination, especially where businesses and multi-family properties are concerned.
There’s turnover in staff and residents, and often there are language barriers. Producing content in multiple languages seems like one logical solution, but doing three separate videos can impact the budget and seem like a daunting logistical challenge…but it can be simplified!
Over the past few years, the Gigantic team helped City of Sunnyvale produce multilingual video content in a streamlined way to ensure they could produce content in multiple languages for a reasonable budget.
With the following tips, we created separate business-facing videos in Chinese, Spanish and Vietnamese – using the same original footage shot in a commercial kitchen – for a reasonable budget.
Top tips for producing multilingual video content:
Show, don’t tell. Tell the story with filmed footage. Demonstrate key behaviors so your content instructs without the use of words as much as possible.
Use voice-over instead of dialog for extra details. This way, you can avoid dubbing over a person speaking to the camera.
Put key messages on-screen with simple graphics. These can be translated, so the video works even with sound off.
Film in real locations that resonate with the audience. This way the setting also provides context without using words.
Create the multilingual versions using the same filmed footage to save money. Just translate and record voice-over in each language and translate the screen graphics.
Promote in-language too. The best video must be seen to be effective. Create a keyword-rich video description in English and translate this, too. Post to your website, YouTube, Facebook or other channels using the translated promotional blurb. You can pay to promote videos specifically to online viewers that use any one of your targeted languages. Without paid promotion, most videos will not get views
Also, check out the Food Scraps Recycling for Apartments and Condos videos filmed with these same tips, in English, Chinese, and Spanish.
This past year, we accepted the challenge to help San Mateo County develop a countywide social marketing campaign designed to improve compost quality by addressing contamination of food scraps and yard trimmings collected in the county.
The Project
Gigantic Idea Studio developed a scope of work that included as much of the community-based social marketing (CBSM) process as time and budget would allow:
Secondary research review of data from haulers, public agency RethinkWaste, transfer stations and composting facilities and similar campaigns,
Primary research via focus groups, with message development and testing and finally,
Campaign creative and a pilot study toolkit, with an implementation guide.
Partnering for Success
Gigantic partnered with R3 Consulting Group to analyze data and identify the top contaminants and sources of contamination. Unsurprisingly, plastics, especially film plastics, were most common. Multi-family dwellings (MFDs) and commercial businesses were the top sources. To keep within the time and budget, we chose plastic as the target contaminant, and MFDs as the target audience.
We also partnered with Green Motivate to look at messaging of similar campaigns conducted in Vermont; Boulder, Colorado; Oregon and Snohomish County, Washington. Each had compelling messages and images— some of which inspired our campaign.
Partnering with Engel Research Partners, we conducted focus groups in English, Spanish and Cantonese to test selected messages and learn more about the barriers and benefits related to food scrap and yard trimming collection programs.
Top Takeaways
Most people were unclear about what happens to the contents of their green bins after they are collected.
Once they understood that compost was used in gardens, parks and farms, residents seemed more motivated to learn how to prevent contamination.
Motivating messages included links to local agriculture, farmers/farmworkers and health.
But people also wanted clear, easy to understand instructions on how to compost correctly— not just inspiration and fluff.
Bin is the preferred term (vs. carts) to refer to wheeled carts and larger rolloff bins.
From these learnings we created a messaging strategy to inform a storytelling video, article and social media posts that included:
Awareness messaging: “Contaminated Green Bin=Contaminate Compost”
Motivational messaging: “We need your help making healthy compost for San Mateo County gardens, parks and farms,” and
Instructional messaging: “Keep All Plastic Out of the Green Bin” and “Food In/Plastic Out”.
For on-the-ground interventions, the campaign toolkit also included bin area signage, a downloadable kitchen sign, and a pilot study methodology. To reach the top monolingual, non-English speaking communities, we partnered with InterEthnica to adapt all campaign collateral into Spanish and Chinese.
While the CBSM components will be implemented locally by stakeholders, the County will be doing a media campaign to support on-the-ground efforts, running sometime this fall.
Lizzie Carrade of the San Mateo County Sustainability Department presented the campaign at the California Resource Recovery Association Annual Conference this year. We are proud to have been part of the team trying to address this pervasive problem.
Eight champions from five organizations were honored at StopWaste’s award ceremony—truly inspiring individuals.
Most of our work here at Gigantic is about helping our clients nudge people toward certain environmental behaviors—preventing food waste, composting organics, keeping dirty car wash water out of storm drains, and so many more. No matter the topic, it’s easy to focus on the need to change behavior more than the need to celebrate when we do see progress. But that acknowledgment, or “confirmation messaging”, is just as important as all the calls to action.
I was reminded of that insight recently when working on StopWaste’s Environmental Leadership Awards that each year recognize a handful of organizations for innovation and achievements in waste prevention, climate resilience and other areas of sustainability.
As part of the preparations for the award ceremony and presentation, I get to interview the champions at each of these organizations. What makes them prioritize environmental practices well beyond legal requirements? What are the keys to success? And how can local government agencies support and amplify their good work?
What I find is that without exception it is the initiative and commitment of individuals that makes these businesses, nonprofits, schools and other entities leaders in their field and can have ripple effects throughout their organizations and beyond. At Drake’s Brewing Company, champion Hal was a cellar master for years, consistently finding greener ways to do thi
Stef notes that it’s been fun working on the annual awards promo with Michelle Fay from StopWaste for all these years.
ngs that also benefitted the company—and becoming the company’s first Sustainability Manager. Champion Becky at Spectrum Community Services was successful in switching the nonprofit’s senior meal service from disposable to reusable foodware with partner Sparkl Reusables and support from her ED. At Mohr Elementary School, teacher Sarah and PTA lead Susanne created an outstanding, hands-on environmental and climate literacy curriculum that helped move their school district to pass a district-wide waste resolution.
Sharing and celebrating these accomplishments at the award ceremony was truly inspiring. It was clearly gratifying and energizing to the champions who had put so much effort and passion into their work, and amplifying their success will surely inspire others.
Environmental specialists are working, like everyone else, in a polarized world where distrust of media and “truthiness” can make us question absolutely everything.
You’ve seen the headlines in everything from business press, public radio …
At Gigantic, we work with clients whose jurisdictions:
Don’t accept “compostable” plastic
Do accept “compostable” plastic
Only accept Plastics # 1, 2, 5
Only accept “rigid” plastics
Ask you to put plastic bags in the Garbage
Ask you to put plastic bags in the Recycling
Accept paper cups in Recycling
Accept paper cups in the Garbage
Put pizza boxes in the Recycling
Put pizza boxes in the Organics
And on and on…
Source: Story of Stuff Instagram
Is it any wonder that residents are wondering what’s going on?
If we had a magic wand, we’d wave it and make all this a lot simpler: focus on just a few of the most easily identified recyclable materials so that “waste” streams are clean and easily processed. We’d like to see:
All jurisdictions’ carts be the same color and labels as in other jurisdictions.
Every jurisdiction have the same “what goes where” instructions and
VASTLY simplify “what goes where” messaging to focus on the most recyclable items, in order to cut down on contamination. We have seen over and over that “wishcycling” is a real thing, and a real hassle for materials facilities.
But we don’t live in a perfect world. For now, environmental communicators need to be honest about the challenges of recycling, while reassuring the public that many problems can be solved and not to give up hope.
It’s that time of year – holiday parties, bountiful buffets, frantic shopping, dining out and ordering tons of stuff online. This rush of activity produces a seemingly unending amount of waste.
At Gigantic, we and our waste professional clients cringe with every stack of delivered boxes, every pile of discarded edible food and every stack of red solo cups in the bulging trash bag after a big party.
If only we could normalize zero waste behaviors at a time when excess is being celebrated and encouraged at every turn! Don’t give up! The holidays provide prime opportunities for reducing waste, often by not creating it in the first place. Now’s the time to pump up our zero waste messaging and help people think about ways to reduce waste during this stressful season.
Like this popular blog, we can normalize behaviors that make less-waste sense:
We can bring concepts forward to interrupt gluttonous behaviors and capture the attention of people who are emotionally on the fence about participating in excess. We can help with tips, encouragement and resources, with feel-good messaging that promotes a more calm, conscious and guilt-free low-waste lifestyle.
Who will benefit from these messages? Of the folks with whom you communicate, there are:
People who are already doing the “right” thing…this messaging will help to reinforce and confirm that they are doing the right thing.
People who feel uneasy and wish they knew how to do some things better. This group responds well to tips and encouragement to jump in and just try something different.
People who are not willing to change and connect the holidays with joyous excess. Low-waste messaging may not influence them this time around, but the seeds may be planted for future change as they see others adopting lower-waste ways.
We highly recommend using your social media channels, newsletters, editorials, advertising and other outlets to promote messaging around waste reduction during the holidays.
You will not be alone! Here are some great recent examples – including a few of ours – to inspire your messaging:
In 2021, Gigantic Idea Studio began producing short videos for the Clean Water Program Alameda County, featuring the popular mascots Fred the Frog and Izzy Egret. A study by the University of Delaware found that, “while mascots may be great at inspiring action through their cheers and high fives, the biggest impacts of mascots may come through displays of disappointment with a negative outcome”. With this in mind, we focused on messaging that showed the impact of pollution on Fred and Izzy.
A key strategy was to distribute the videos through paid promotion on platforms that were popular with younger audiences. At the time, TikTok was becoming a popular platform with Gen Z, so in addition to producing the short videos in the traditional horizontal format, we created vertical versions to allow an optimized experience on TikTok. Gigantic Idea Studio created a TikTok channel for the campaign, and also posted the videos on Instagram Reels.
Fred & Izzy on TikTok
The results were impressive. The vertical version of the Dog Poop video had a CPM of $2.36, compared to $7.12 for the horizontal version on YouTube. Although views are counted differently depending on the platform, the TikTok version of the video also received more views than on YouTube, despite having double the budget.
Gigantic Idea Studio also found success with organic content on Instagram Reels. Its first reel received 3,059 views, compared to the average of 26 views for its previous horizontal video posts. On Earth Day 2023, we posted another reel that received 1,318 views.
To date, Gigantic Idea Studio’s TikTok channel has received 1,720,973 views of 8 videos, through 14 campaigns, and 9,543 likes with 482 followers.
Takeaways
Gigantic Idea Studio’s success teaches a few important lessons about reaching younger audiences with short-form videos:
Use humor and creativity. Younger audiences are attracted to content that is entertaining and engaging.
Keep it short and sweet. Younger audiences have short attention spans, so aim for videos that are 30 seconds or less.
Use vertical video. Younger audiences are more likely to watch videos on their mobile devices, so make sure your videos are formatted vertically.
Promote your videos on the right platforms. TikTok is a great platform for reaching younger audiences, but other platforms like Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts are also gaining popularity.
If you’re looking to reach younger audiences with your marketing content, consider using short-form videos. Just be sure to keep the above tips in mind to create videos that are engaging and effective.
Reducing food waste and diverting it and other organic materials from landfill is key to reducing methane emissions in our state (and around the world). California’s SB 1383 establishes targets for reducing organic waste going to landfill and increasing edible food recovery, and public agencies across the state are scrambling to implement it. The law, including outreach for it, was a major focus at this year’s California Resource Recovery Association (CRRA) Conference. The Gigantic team’s presentation was designed to contribute to that discussion.
How much do Californians already know about food waste and its connection to climate change? What would motivate more residents to reduce food waste? Back in 2020, we conducted a brief statewide survey of Californians to ask a few questions about their understanding of greenhouse gas emissions, landfill and food waste. We re-ran the survey with some additional questions in 2023 to see if the implementation of SB 1383 was impacting residents’ understanding of food waste and its relation to the warming planet. In comparing the data from 2023 to that of 2020 we noted:
84% of respondents think that human-caused climate change is happening; this is up
4 percentage points from 2020.
The number of respondents who are very or extremely worried about climate change is stable at 50%. There is an increase of those who say they are more worried than they were a year ago: 46% vs 40% in 2020.
Only 33% of respondents understood that food scraps break down and release methane in landfill. This is down from 42% in 2020.
Despite the requirements of SB 1383 that every resident have access to organics composting service, only 47% of respondents confirmed that their food scraps are collected separately from garbage. 28% said that food scraps go in the garbage and 16% said they don’t have food scrap collection service. 8% did not know.
When asked to select the three best reasons for reducing food waste, “The right thing to do” was selected by 45% of respondents (down from 49% in 2020). “Fighting climate change” was selected by 32% of respondents.
The survey results demonstrate that many Californians understand that climate change is happening and they are worried about it, but do not yet understand the connection between food waste going to landfill and the climate crisis. We see this as a possible opportunity for future outreach: Many of the actions that fight climate change are quite a big “ask” for most people: “Buy a new electric car!” “Replace your water heater!” “Stop eating meat!” In contrast, cutting food waste is both simpler and has many practical benefits, such as saving money. Could outreach about cutting food waste to fight climate change be the daily action that makes people feel positive and hopeful about their actions and the future? This is a question we’d like to explore in future research.
To receive a copy of the full survey report, please email Gigantic.
For our government and non-profit partners in environmental behavior change, the good news is: we’re all in this together. When our messaging about recycling, waste reduction, energy conservation and respect for nature spreads far and wide, we all win! So it’s smart to help each other reach as many people as possible.
That’s where the partner power comes in by creating a network of like-minded organizations and a process for sharing partner messages across groups and platforms. It’s a very simple idea: compile your sharable messages into a few easily “cut and pasted” formats, such as newsletter article, Facebook or Instagram, then send the memo to a curated list of partner organizations that pick up and share the content on their channels.
It’s a Win-Win
Not only does the partner memo amplify the original sender’s message, it provides content for those of us struggling to come up with new things to say in our e-news, website or social media.
Get started!
Make a list of the top organizations that share your values and communication topics. Some might be direct “competitors” such as a non-profit with a similar focus, or local governments, more general community organizations (that would be interested in helping their constituents, such as the public library. Reach out to these organizations and explain that you’d like to share content with them and invite them to share theirs with you. Set up your memo template and start sharing!
Top Tips for Effective Partner Memos
Send regularly, but not TOO often
Send your partner memos on a regular schedule if possible, say once a quarter. For time-sensitive messages, be sure to allow plenty of notice so that your content can be included at the right time for the recipient. In other words, don’t send your Christmas post to partners on December 23rd!
Make it easy!
The easier you make it, the more likely your content is to be shared. Include suggested headlines, pertinent links and, ALWAYS, images. Link to downloadable images that are properly sized for each channel. Be sure to specify if a photo credit as needed.
Reciprocate!
Share and share alike, right? Be open to sharing other organizations’ content in your channels. Showing the world that you are a good partner concerned about your community is an excellent strategy – and it’s the right thing to do.
Sometimes the simplest tools can be the most effective. A little effort to set up the partner memo system will pay off for months to come as your partner power and messaging takes flight.
This image – generated at Fotor.com – supposedly illustrates the use of AI for environmental behavior change campaigns…!
Everywhere we look these days, we see both excitement and warnings around the Artificial Intelligence (AI) revolution. How will the use of artificial intelligence impact our outreach? Will it make it easy to select the best way to communicate about environmental behavior change? Will it put environmental behavior change agencies out of business? ARGH.
While we don’t think we’ll be out of a job any time soon, we all know that change is the only certainty and that we will all need to adapt to this new ‘entity’. Let’s look at the current state of AI with a couple of examples from Google’s Bard chatbot:
I asked Bard:
“Write a Facebook post that will incorporate food waste messaging and Livermore’s Binny.”
Bard responded:
Sure, here is a Facebook post that incorporates food waste messaging and Livermore’s Binny:
Headline: Livermore’s Binny is Helping to Fight Food Waste
Body:
Did you know that one-third of all food produced for human consumption is wasted every year? That’s enough food to feed 2 billion people!
Food waste is a major environmental problem. It contributes to climate change, water pollution, and deforestation. It also wastes resources that could be used to feed people.
Livermore’s Binny is helping to fight food waste. They donate food to local food banks and soup kitchens. They also compost food scraps, which helps to reduce methane emissions.
If you’re looking for ways to reduce food waste, there are a few things you can do:
Plan your meals ahead of time so you don’t buy more food than you need.
Cook only what you need and save leftovers for later.
Donate food to local food banks or soup kitchens.
Compost food scraps.
By taking these steps, you can help to reduce food waste and make a difference in the world.
Call to action:
To learn more about how you can help fight food waste, visit Binny’s website or follow them on social media.
While the information is not totally incorrect, it seems as if Bard could not distinguish a Facebook post from a 185-word blog post. Despite having instant access to the entire Internet, Bard did not know that Binny is a mascot for Livermore Recycles, representing the Organics Cart; Binny himself does not “donate food to local food banks and soup kitchens.” While this post draft gives some ideas, it certainly requires human intervention.
I tried to push the AI to make decisions about which content to include in a short format, asking:
“Please write a tweet with the most important action an individual can take to combat the climate crisis.”
Bard’s response was very big-picture – for whatever reason, it did not focus on recycling or reducing individual carbon footprint, but on political action:
The most important action an individual can take to combat the climate crisis is to vote for climate-friendly candidates. Vote in every election, from local to national, and let your elected officials know that climate action is a top priority for you. #ClimateAction
So far, these responses are reasonable but not earth-shattering. Can AI provide the spark that really grabs attention? I tried to elicit some more creativity from Bard, asking:
“Please write a limerick about sorting waste at home.”
Bard responded with:
There was a young lady named Sue Who sorted her waste into two. She said, “I’m a bit green, But I’m doing my scene By recycling and composting too!”
Well, Bard, I think “doing my scene” is a bit weak, but this has a spark of life in it.
Finally, selfishly, I asked Bard, “When will AI replace the need for environmental outreach professionals?”
Part of Bard’s reply was appealing:
Here are some ways that AI can be used to support environmental outreach professionals:
Create engaging and informative content:AI can be used to generate content that is tailored to the needs of different audiences. For example, AI can be used to create infographics, videos, and articles that are both informative and engaging.
Track the effectiveness of outreach efforts:AI can be used to track the effectiveness of outreach efforts by measuring things like website traffic, social media engagement, and donations. This data can be used to improve future outreach efforts.
Connect with people who might not otherwise be reached:AI can be used to connect with people who might not otherwise be reached by environmental outreach efforts. For example, AI can be used to create chatbots that can answer questions about environmental issues or to create personalized email campaigns.
Some interesting promises here that we will explore further. But, we also like Bard’s conclusion:
Overall, AI is a powerful tool that can be used to support environmental outreach professionals. However, it is important to remember that AI cannot replace the human touch. Environmental outreach professionals are still essential for building relationships with people and communities, and for creating lasting change.
Amen!
P.S. Bard does not yet create images, but I asked Fotor.com to “Create an image for a blog post about the use of AI for environmental behavior change campaigns.” The result (see above) is, well, interesting!
Gigantic Idea Studio teamed up with Sunnyvale, California with the challenge to refresh their “FoodCycle” food scrap collection program outreach and improve participation rates. The question was, how?
One tag version had messages of social norming and the benefits of foodcycling.
After surveying residents, we found that self-reported participation was actually fairly high at 63%, but cart audits showed a lower citywide participation rate of 57% and weekly participation of 45%.
The City wanted more program collateral, how-to videos and a presentation to help them communicate about the program, but also wanted to explore behavior-change tactics in a pilot program. Our team proposed a communications campaign as a baseline strategy, that would be supplemented with cart tagging in two pilot areas. The pilot would determine whether or not cart tagging improved participation more than advertisements, articles and videos. Together, we set a goal to raise weekly participation by 5%.
The two pilot areas were given two different messaging strategies:Social Norming and Benefit messaging vs. Addressing Barriers messaging. The social norming tag showed residents and their quotes about why they FoodCycled—and then listed the benefits of participation, such as reducing waste and fighting climate change. It also clearly stated that 63% of residents participate, a clear majority of support and enthusiasm. The second group received messaging related to overcoming barriers to participation, such as tips to avoid mess, smells and pests, and alternative collection containers for smaller kitchens or those concerned with aesthetics.
The more effective tag addressed barriers to food scrap recycling.
Although both strategies are part of the popular “Community-Based Social Marketing” practices, the cart audits showed that the “Barriers” messaging worked better in Sunnyvale. The households that received a cart tag with tips saw an increase of 9% (from 44% to 53%) in weekly participation and 7% in overall participation, when compared to the baseline.
Both types of messages were included in the communications campaign, but the pilot project shows that cart tagging adds effectiveness that can be measured. This is likely related to the personal and contextual message delivery method—the cart—which is related to the behavior change we are asking for.
Many cities will be conducting cart audits as part of SB 1383’s statewide requirements. Adding friendly, yet effective messaging designed to increase participation in organics programs is a good way to maximize the investment of labor required to do these audits. This messaging can be combined with contamination feedback and included on the back side of any cart tag.
We have experience designing these tags and providing guidance on how to determine messaging that resonates in your community. We’d love to hear from you!
Food scrap and organics collection programs pose a challenge to public agencies in terms of low participation and high contamination, especially where businesses and multi-family properties are concerned.
Gigantic Idea Studio developed a scope of work that included as much of the community-based social marketing (CBSM) process as time and budget would allow:
Partnering with 
Instructional messaging: “Keep All Plastic Out of the Green Bin” and “Food In/Plastic Out”.
