Resources

These days, contamination enforcement is all over the media—and rightly so. It’s a sticky issue. When it comes to getting people to adopt the right recycling behaviors, the last thing you want to do is alienate them. Unfortunately, contamination enforcement can do just that. Even worse, it can discourage residents from recycling altogether.   

Today, we’re going to look at how some communities are approaching contamination enforcement and whether or not their campaigns have proven successful.

Everybody’s talking about digital transformation, and rightfully so. Governments everywhere, from the UK to New York City have already formalized their digital transformation plans. Not to be outdone, small towns are also getting in on the fun.

This is all to say that digital transformation is more than a buzzword. It’s happening right now in communities across the planet, changing the way governments operate and deliver services to their residents.

We’re exposed to more information in one day than someone would have been over the course of their entire life in the 15^th century. Granted, the medieval mind didn’t exactly have a lot of things to focus on: the plague, tending the crops, the plague, harvesting the crops… you catch the drift.

It’s no wonder we’ve become so selective about what we pay attention to and what we choose to ignore. There’s just way too much information floating around out there. Naturally, this makes it harder to communicate. For one, you’re competing for your residents’ attention. Not only that, but because they’re so overwhelmed with information, they’ve become far more selective about what they’ll engage with.

When people think branding, multinational corporations like Apple, Google and Coca-Cola come to mind. But nowadays, everyone’s getting a piece of the pie. Even people have brands (the Kardashians, anyone?). Municipal governments, too. And, strange as it might sound, your solid waste program should also have a brand.

When it comes to recycling communications, most of the officials we speak to at the state level want to do more, but it’s tough.

In many ways, they’re handcuffed.   

Networks are everywhere.

Every day, you access them—sometimes without even knowing it. Your mobile device is connected to a network. So is your computer. Chances are, you use a social network to stay connected to friends and family. Today, you might even use an information network like Wikipedia, or a shopping network like Amazon.