By developing, using and maintaining online tools and mobile technology, municipalities and haulers can successfully educate and engage their residents and customers, fostering behavior change and improving solid waste programs.
John Watson
Waste management is increasingly complex. From constantly evolving consumer packaging, to source separated organics; from alternative collection schedules, to “take-back” product stewardship programs—it’s no wonder residents and customers are often misinformed or confused about solid waste.
Therefore, it’s vital for municipalities and haulers to effectively communicate with their residents and customers. Successful communication programs foster participation, raise capture rates, reduce contamination and increase diversion.
There are many communication tactics to choose from—print (calendars, flyers, inserts), advertising (newspaper, TV, radio, web), social media (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube), publicity (media releases, PSAs), outreach (community booths, presentations, door-to-door canvassing), web, mobile, etc.
However, even with all these options at your disposal, the ability to effectively communicate with people about solid waste is actually more challenging than ever. Budget pressures make implementing a robust strategic communications plan difficult. Excessive print materials counter an organization’s stated waste minimization goals. Timelines for traditional print advertising make it nearly impossible to immediately communicate about collection delays due to weather. In addition, the changing experiences of target audiences—residents and customers—make effective communication even more of a challenge.
Studies show the average person encounters anywhere from approximately 250 to 20,000 marketing messages a day. People are bombarded by marketing. In addition, the average adult’s attention span is just eight seconds. People simply don’t have the ability to pay attention to all of that messaging. So how does a municipality or hauler rise above the “noise” of all these marketing messages and grab the attention of its residents and customers?
New Approach
Municipalities and haulers can no longer rely on paper as the only way to communicate with residents. A new approach is needed: a digital strategy. A digital strategy is more than just putting some content on a Web site. It’s about developing, using and maintaining online tools that educate and engage residents in a meaningful, interactive way.
The simple fact is, in North America, people are online. In 2013, 74.4 percent of all US households reported Internet use, with 73.4 percent reporting a high-speed connection (US Census Bureau). In Canada, 87 percent of households are connected to the Internet (Statistics Canada).
Online, people have expectations of speed, intuitive navigation, self-service, and accessibility. So what’s the “easiest” online tool a municipality and hauler could use as part of their digital strategy?
Collection Calendars
The cornerstone of many solid waste communication programs is the annual “collection calendar” which contains schedules and program information. However, these calendars are time consuming to develop, and are extremely costly to print and deliver to households. Many MRF operators can attest to the number of calendars that appear in recycling bins immediately after they’ve reached people’s homes!
It isn’t that the information contained in the calendars isn’t wanted, it’s that the format isn’t necessarily relevant in this day and age. Residents now go online to find their collection schedule. But residents aren’t immediately going to your Web site to find it. Using Google, Bing, or Yahoo!, they do Web searches to find the information they are looking for. Give it a try. Google your organization’s name, along with terms like “waste collection” or “recycling pickup.” According to one study, the top three listings of a Google search result in over 60 percent of the click-throughs. Therefore, your online collection calendar needs to be found in these top web searches.
The next question is whether your online collection calendar is actually an online tool, or just a repository of maps and PDFs. Oftentimes, residents are presented with a color-coded map (JPG or PDF). The expectation is the resident will find their location on the map, and cross-reference the correct area to a PDF schedule. But many people have difficulty reading a geographic map. In addition, using map images in this scenario wouldn’t comply with most accessibility legislation. The visual presentation of many of these PDF schedules also causes issues. Residents are confused by—and don’t have time to decipher—collection schedules that present multiple collection areas on one page, use letters to display alternating collection weeks, or puzzling symbols like squares and circles to identify waste streams.
If your online tool has an actual address search function, does the resident need to fill in multiple fields (municipality, street name, house number) or do they use just one simple field? Consider the attention span of your resident. Also, does your address search function process street directions like North or South? Once the resident has their collection schedule, then what? Is that the end of your interaction with the resident?
Online tools should surprise and delight your residents. Any successful online collection calendar should feature a free reminder system, enabling the resident to subscribe to e-mail, phone, Twitter and text message reminders, at the time of their choosing. This is fundamental to communicating with residents: the resident is identifying their preferred communication channel and is picking the time they are receptive to hearing from you.
Some may argue that waste collection reminders aren’t necessary. If reminders truly weren’t needed, municipalities and haulers wouldn’t receive any customer service calls about missed collection due to late set-outs. In an attention deficit world, people want reminders. Your doctor, dentist and library, all provide reminders. So should the waste management sector. Consider too: 58 percent of people confess checking e-mail is the first thing they do in the morning. Phone call reminders—using an automated system—is a great way to reach seniors or people with disabilities. According to one study, “text messaging is seen as somewhat or very useful by 91 percent of users who actually subscribe to a brand’s texts” (Salesforce.com).
Don’t Just Remind—Educate!
Waste collection reminders are just the start. Sending reminders to residents each week is like sending them a weekly newsletter—using their preferred communication channel at the time they want to hear from you.
Having the ability to add customizable educational messaging to these reminders enables a municipality or hauler to foster behavior change, encourage participation, address contamination issues, promote new services and celebrate successes.
According to the National Environmental Education Foundation, “63 percent of American adults take some sort of action when learning about the environmental issues facing the world today.”
In addition, waste diversion communication “campaigns that include a program for ongoing and sustained contact with targeted audiences generally have greater impact than a one-time “blitz.” (KPMG).
Continuous education of residents and customers is vital to ensure the success of waste diversion programs.
Going Mobile
Another part of your organization’s digital strategy is the need to address mobile technology. The use of mobile technology—smartphones and tablets—is growing at tremendous speed. More and more, people are using their iPhones, Android devices and tablets, to access the Internet. In the U.S., 58 percent of American adults have a smartphone (Pew Research) and 55 percent of Canadians own a smartphone (GroupM Next). In January 2014, “Mobile devices accounted for 55 percent of internet usage in the United States” (CNN).
So how do municipalities and haulers accommodate the huge, and increasing growth of access through mobile devices? Truly, the best solution is to ensure your existing Web site is “responsive.” This means your Web site automatically scales and adjusts content layout to display properly on smaller mobile device screens. Look at your organization’s Web site on a computer and smartphone. On the smartphone, is the text too small to read? Would the resident have to zoom in and out to navigate their way through your site? Is it easy to use your online collection calendar on a mobile device? As a comparison, take a look at vancouver.ca on your computer and smartphone. You’ll see the font is still readable, and navigation buttons move around to accommodate the smaller screen size.
The next best option is to build a mobile app (application). However, for best results, the mobile app should be “natively-built” meaning it was developed to work specifically on targeted mobile devices such as Apple and Android. There’s some debate about whether mobile apps should incorporate all city services, or address specific departments or programs. But the emerging consensus among experts is clear. You’ll notice that Google doesn’t have one app—but a different app for each of its services. Same too with Microsoft—there isn’t a Microsoft Office app, but one app for each tool.
These well-resourced and tech-savvy companies know something—that people would prefer to cherry-pick services rather than download a large cumbersome app that provides some services they want and a bunch they don’t. Providing a single app with lots and lots of features runs counter to how people like to use apps. Ultimately, residents want to be able to find solid waste information quickly and easily, without having to search through layers of other municipal information. One city apps make that hard, while dedicated apps make it easier.
Who Will Build It?
One of the major decisions to make when developing a digital strategy is “who is going to build” the online tool or mobile app. Your existing technology department could build these from scratch, or you could buy “out of the box” from an existing technology provider. If your internal technology department wants to build a tool, ask these questions:
- Does the IT department have the resources to fully build features that will delight residents, and features that will provide real-time, behind-the-scenes analytics to municipal staff?
- Does IT have the resources to make regular updates to content and information?
- Can waste management or communications staff make updates themselves?
- Does IT have the resources to consistently ensure the tools work on all Web browsers and versions, and mobile devices and operating systems?
If you buy an existing product “out of the box,” ask these questions of the vendor:
- What is the businesses’ primary line of work?
- What experiences do they have working with similar sized municipalities or haulers?
- Can they provide any written case studies about the effectiveness of their product?
- What staff resources do they have for product development and customer support?
- Can only the vendor make updates, or can you make updates yourself?
Regardless of whether you build your online tool or mobile app in-house, or purchase from a vendor, here are some basic specifications to consider:
- At a minimum, the online tool should fully function using these Web browsers:
- Internet Explorer 8, 9, 10, 11
- Although released in 2009, Internet Explorer 8 represents 31 percent of Web browsers currently in use today
- Google Chrome
- Firefox
- Safari
- Blackberry
- Internet Explorer 8, 9, 10, 11
- Online tools should be audited to ensure compliance with Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG)
- At a minimum, mobile apps should fully function using these device models and operating systems:
- iPhone 4 (ios 6)
- Android (operating system 2.3
- Combined, Apple and Android represent 4 percent of the current global mobile device market
Make it Happen
Today, people are swamped with marketing messages. Their attention spans are shorter than ever. Therefore, communicating to residents about solid waste can be challenging. However, people want to participate in solid waste programs properly. As one study indicated: “79 percent of people agree that individual efforts to divert and recycle waste are making a ‘major difference’”’ (Waste Diversion Ontario).
Municipalities and haulers need to develop digital strategies to reach people who are increasingly looking for information online, often on mobile devices. By developing, using and maintaining online tools and mobile technology, municipalities and haulers can successfully educate and engage their residents and customers, fostering behavior change and improving solid waste programs.
John Watson is the Director of Customer Success at ReCollect Systems Inc., based in Vancouver, Canada, with offices across North America, a technology company that builds award-winning online collection calendars, waste material look-up tools, and mobile apps. He assists municipalities and haulers across North America effectively communicate with their residents and customers. John can be reached at (888) 291-0604, ext 205. For more information, visit www.recollect.net.