Hey! Why didn’t I think of this? Here’s a light-hearted environmental communications effort that has it all — it’s clever, cute, crystal clear, and dirt cheap! It’s the “Caught Green Handed” campaign run by the Lawrence-Scioto Solid Waste District in Ironton, Ohio.

Every few weeks, district staff head out to local recycling trailers and snap pictures of everyday citizens who use them properly. Then they post their pictures to the website, saying they were “caught green handed.” Here’s how it stacks up to the method:

• Step One: Begin With Behavior: Check! Recycle.
• Step Two: Foolproof Photos: Check! There are those recycling do-gooders, staring right at you with bags of recycling in their hand
• Step Three: Swap the Shoptalk: Check! No shoptalk anywhere
• Step Four: Words That Work: Half check. The district never uses the term “doing your part” or “working together,” but that message comes through pretty clearly with the effort

Big thanks to S.W. for slipping this one my way!

2 Responses to “Caught Green Handed!”