RHDG. Central Contra Costa Solid Waste Authority BYOBag Pilot Campaign Report Prepared by Riezebos Holzbaur

Transcription

1 RHDG Central Contra Costa Solid Waste Authority BYOBag Pilot Campaign Report Prepared by Riezebos Holzbaur June 14, 2011

2 TABLE OF CONTENTS Executive Summary Campaign Development Campaign Deliverables Campaign Results Recommendations CENTRAL CONTRA COSTA SOLID WASTE AUTHORITY BYOBAG PILOT CAMPAIGN REPORT BY RIEZEBOS HOLZBAUR GROUP i

3 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The Central Contra Costa Solid Waste Authority s (CCCSWA) BYOBag Pilot Campaign was implemented in response to the CCCSWA Board of Director s request to explore alternatives to legislated action regarding disposable plastic bags. Over the past few years, the issue of reusable bags has become more fervent in the Bay Area with several cities attempting (with varying levels of success) to implement bans or ordinances restricting the use of plastic bags in an effort to divert waste and litter from waterways. Reusable bag use has also been found to be a gateway behavior that can increase public consciousness about general waste prevention and diversion. To reduce waste and protect the Bay Area watershed CCCSWA staff worked in collaboration with RHDG to develop a Bring Your Own Bag (BYOBag) Pilot Campaign that focuses on the promotion of reusable bags. The Pilot Campaign took place between the months of March and May 2011 and involved multiple tiers of outreach that included grocers, local student groups, and the general public. The goal of the Pilot Campaign was to test the success of various forms of shopper outreach at reducing disposable bag use. Outreach efforts included in-person meetings with grocer and student groups to secure venue and staff for implementing the campaign. Outreach to the public included reminder signage on grocery store property and store tabling events. Tabling events were used as an opportunity to collect reusable bag pledges and distribute reusable bags directly to shoppers. Visual bag counts and qualitative interviews with shoppers and grocers were conducted to gauge the effectiveness of various forms of outreach on influencing shopper behavior. The feedback collected and lessons learned from the Pilot Campaign will be used by CCCSWA staff to shape future campaign strategy should the Board agree to continue to pursue public outreach as a means for reducing the use of disposable plastic bags. CENTRAL CONTRA COSTA SOLID WASTE AUTHORITY BYOBAG PILOT CAMPAIGN REPORT BY RIEZEBOS HOLZBAUR GROUP 1

4 CAMPAIGN DEVELOPMENT Objectives The overarching goal of the Pilot Campaign was to test the success of various forms of shopper outreach at reducing disposable bag use. The secondary objectives laid out in order to achieve this goal were as follows: Achieve a measurable reduction of disposable (plastic and paper) single-use bags by getting Central Contra Costa shoppers in the habit of bringing reusable bags with them every time they go to the store. Partner with 2-3 grocery stores to serve as venues for shopper outreach. Partner with local school groups to assist with store outreach. Audience Members of the target audience, or primary shoppers, were Central Contra Costa County residents who have environmentally conscious attitudes or have already adopted environmentally friendly practices. They are primarily female and likely to be Caucasian, age 45 or older, English-speaking, politically moderate or liberal, and have Bachelor Degrees or higher. By household, primary shoppers are likely to have incomes over $80,000 and one or more children still living at home. Our target enjoys spending time with her family and values relationships. She also believes it s important to continue to learn new things and that it s a personal obligation to be environmentally responsible. CENTRAL CONTRA COSTA SOLID WASTE AUTHORITY BYOBAG PILOT CAMPAIGN REPORT BY RIEZEBOS HOLZBAUR GROUP 2

5 Creative Insight The key discovery, or insight, from audience research is that although primary shoppers value environmentally conscious practices such as recycling, conservation, and buying reusable bags, they often have trouble remembering to bring their reusable bags with them when they go shopping. Creative Strategy Based on our audience insight, we developed a creative strategy upon which the campaign visuals and messaging were based. MAKE IT A HABIT AND GRAB IT! It s amazing to think a little thing like reusable bags can make such a tremendous environmental difference. Still, it s hard to keep your little friends handy when you need them. So make it a habit and grab your bags whenever you head out to the store; they miss you when you leave them behind. The creative strategy resulted in the development of a campaign look and feel that focused on removing one of the major barriers to behavior adoption, remembering to bring reusable bags into the store. The campaign creative was developed to help our target audience understand the importance and benefits of reusable bags by providing friendly reminders to encourage the adoption of this sustainable behavior. Drawing from the audience profile, the bags were humanized to help primary shoppers begin to think of their bags as more than objects, but shopper-friendly accessories or partners. The following pages outline the visual application of the creative as well as the usage and placement of the resulting collateral. CENTRAL CONTRA COSTA SOLID WASTE AUTHORITY BYOBAG PILOT CAMPAIGN REPORT BY RIEZEBOS HOLZBAUR GROUP 3

6 CAMPAIGN DELIVERABLES Campaign Creative From the creative strategy, RHDG was able to update the creative from the City of Palo Alto s Talking Bag campaign to incorporate the CCCSWA logo, look, and feel. This creative update allowed CCCSWA to conserve significant budget, that could be put towards campaign implementation. Shopping s hard work but I can handle it. I ve got handles. Bring it with you every time ey you shop at the market, pharmacy, wherever. It doesn t tm matter how you ur remember mber ri it, just as long as you do. You ll ul lbe ed doing gy your part to help your community m yr reduce waste. Take it & make it second nature w. wast er si.o rg Ba g CENTRAL CONTRA COSTA SOLID WASTE AUTHORITY BYOBAG PILOT CAMPAIGN REPORT BY RIEZEBOS HOLZBAUR GROUP 4

7 Store Outreach & Collateral The goal of store outreach was to identify and recruit grocery stores in Central Contra Costa that would be willing to participate in participating in the BYOBag Pilot Campaign. Participating stores received BYOBag signage and in exchange, CCCSWA was given permission to set up tabling events in front of the stores. Tabling events were used to collect reusable bag pledges and distribute free reusable bags to shoppers. RHDG worked with CCCSWA staff to identify stores for the Pilot Campaign and developed collateral (reminder signage) for each participating location. Although grocers were generally supportive of reusable bag promotion, CCCSWA and RHDG staff encountered a significant amount of red tape during outreach efforts. The primary barriers were identifying and communicating Pilot Campaign objectives and execution with the appropriate decision maker. With larger grocers such as Safeway approval for store signage and tabling was made at a corporate level, making access to decision makers extremely challenging. Additionally, locallyowned grocers such as Diablo Foods and Lunardi s required multiple contact attempts and in person meetings prior to gaining approval. Ultimately, three stores were successfully recruited for the Pilot Campaign - Safeway in Lafayette, Lunardi s in Walnut Creek, and Diablo Foods in Lafayette. Bag surveys and tabling events were coordinated by volunteers from St. Mary s College. The table below details the types of outreach each store agreed to utilize and images of select collateral can be found on the following page. Safeway, Lafayette PILOT STORES Lunardi s, Walnut Creek Diablo Foods, Lafayette Bag Surveys x x Tabling Events x x Reusable Bags x x Distributed Pledges Collected x x Cart Signage x Storefront Banner x x Entrance Signage x x In-store Posters x CENTRAL CONTRA COSTA SOLID WASTE AUTHORITY BYOBAG PILOT CAMPAIGN REPORT BY RIEZEBOS HOLZBAUR GROUP 5

8 Where are you going? Can I come along? Take it & make it second nature Please Pledge. By signing this sheet, you are pledging to make an extra effort to remember to bring your reusable bags to the store. NAME DATE Where are you going? Can I come along? Take it & make it second nature CENTRAL CONTRA COSTA SOLID WASTE AUTHORITY BYOBAG PILOT CAMPAIGN REPORT BY RIEZEBOS HOLZBAUR GROUP 6

9 Youth Outreach & Mobilization To extend the Pilot Campaign s reach on a modest budget, CCCSWA identified educational institutions and student groups that could be leveraged to assist with campaign outreach. After reaching out to Mary Volmer, the Honors Program Director at St. Mary s College, CCCSWA and RHDG were able to get in contact with several groups of students who were willing to take on the BYOBag cause. Similar to grocers, though there was a lot of enthusiasm for the promotion of reusable bags, recruiting volunteers to assist with outreach efforts was challenging. The ability for student volunteers to operate with limited supervision led RHDG and CCCSWA staff to pursue collegeaged student groups. Outreach to student groups not only included communications and meetings with the faculty advisor, but also required the organization of a student training session to review bag count and tabling procedures. Although the students work was key to shopper outreach and bag count data collection, results showed a range efforts varied by tabling groups, resulting in mixed output. Student volunteers were scheduled to conduct bag counts and table at Safeway and Lunardi s for three hours on several Saturdays. Working in close coordination with Chelsea O Sullivan, St. Mary s Student Volunteer Coordinator, RHDG and CCCSWA staff coordinated tabling dates with store management, developed a detailed staffing schedule, and provided all the materials necessary to run these outreach events. SPECIAL ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Ms. Volmer, Ms. Sullivan, and the rest of the St. Mary s student volunteers should be commended for their diligence and commitment to the BYOBag campaign. Noted both by CCCSWA staff and store managers, the students hard work resulted in tremendously positive feedback. We hope to continue to work with St. Mary s College on future BYOBag outreach, and due to our positive experience, potentially expand outreach efforts to include other student groups. CENTRAL CONTRA COSTA SOLID WASTE AUTHORITY BYOBAG PILOT CAMPAIGN REPORT BY RIEZEBOS HOLZBAUR GROUP 7

10 CAMPAIGN RESULTS Summary Stores Partners: 3 Student Volunteers Recruited: 20 Shopper Pledges Collected: 414 Reusable Bags Distributed: 335 Reusable Bag to Disposable Bag Usage Ratio: Increased from 0.29 to 0.39 Tabling Events The original Pilot Campaign plan included five events three Saturday morning tabling events as well as both pre- and post-campaign bag counts. Due to volunteer schedule limitations, the campaign was adjusted to three total events one tabling and simultaneous pre-campaign bag count, one tabling event, and one post-campaign bag count. Each event took place on Saturday morning. However Safeway management cut its first tabling/bag count short, resulting in a one-hour event instead of the scheduled three-hour event. Additionally, Diablo Foods elected to only use store signage, so although pre- and post-campaign bag counts were conducted, no on-site tabling outreach events took place. TABLING EVENTS Dates 3/12/11 3/26/11 Safeway Pledges Collected 42 (1 hour) 52 Reusable Bags Distributed 30 (1 hour) 68 Lunardi s Pledges Collected Reusable Bags Distributed CENTRAL CONTRA COSTA SOLID WASTE AUTHORITY BYOBAG PILOT CAMPAIGN REPORT BY RIEZEBOS HOLZBAUR GROUP 8

11 Bag Counts Based on post-campaign bag count data, Diablo Foods saw the most dramatic increase in reusable bag use However, post-campaign reusable bag counts at Lunardi s and Safeway remained relatively proportionate to pre-campaign counts. Despite the lack of tabling events, Diablo Foods was the location that implemented the most on-site signage. Relatively consistent pre- and post-campaign bag counts at Safeway and Lunardi s may be attributed to the fact that the pre-campaign bag count was not done in advance of campaign outreach, but rather in conjunction with the first tabling event. The lack of true baseline bag counts prior to BYOBag tabling outreach makes it unclear how much effect outreach had on bag use. Advance timing for bag counts would result in a more accurate account of campaign influence. Additionally, a more consistent methodology would be able to determine if the behavior of not using a bag at all (a behavior that would still accomplish the overarching goal of reduced disposable bag consumption) could also be considered a co-benefit of BYOBag outreach. BAG COUNTS Dates 3/12/11 4/30/11 Safeway Paper Plastic 192 Reusable (or obviously reused) No Bag Taken Not counted 3 Lunardi s Paper Plastic 54 Reusable (or obviously reused) No Bag Taken Not counted 78 Diablo Foods Paper Plastic 46 Reusable (or obviously reused) No Bag Taken Not counted Not counted CENTRAL CONTRA COSTA SOLID WASTE AUTHORITY BYOBAG PILOT CAMPAIGN REPORT BY RIEZEBOS HOLZBAUR GROUP 9

12 Qualitative Feedback In addition to bag count data, qualitative feedback is also an important factor for gauging public response to BYOBag outreach. Because of the reduced number of tabling events and inconsistencies in bag count data collection, both bag count data and qualitative feedback should be considered a starting point that can help inform future BYOBag outreach, rather than the end result. SAFEWAY A Safeway employee stated that staff members are told not to ask customers paper or plastic and to only provide plastic if a customer specifically requests it. Feedback we received from a student volunteer who counted shoppers using reusable bags indicated that she received quite a bit of interest from people. They would come up to her and ask her what she was doing and why it was important. She said that the people she talked to were all extremely interested in using reusable bags even though not all of them presently did so. LUNARDI S Lunardi s staff stated that the store policy is to provide paper bags unless a customer specifically requests plastic. A student volunteer that staffed the table at Lunardi s indicated that she felt the event went okay. She said that she did get some people to listen to the message and that the people who signed the pledge seemed very interested. She also said that she noticed a lot of people were already using reusable bags. She said that there were some people who were not interested in what she had to say. She thinks they probably thought she was going to talk to them about religion or swindle them. She also said that most of the people who stopped to listen already had reusable bags. DIABLO FOODS In addition to bag counts, an informal shopper survey was conducted by CCCSWA staff postcampaign. Feedback from a number of the shoppers indicated that signage near the cart corrals at Diablo Foods were not effective. Only a few shoppers said they noticed the signage and several said they thought it would be better to put more signage near the doors to catch people going in. However, the majority of shopper feedback was extremely positive and many praised the CCCSWA for their efforts. CENTRAL CONTRA COSTA SOLID WASTE AUTHORITY BYOBAG PILOT CAMPAIGN REPORT BY RIEZEBOS HOLZBAUR GROUP 10

13 Conclusions As previously stated, the overarching goal of the Pilot Campaign was to test the success of various forms of shopper outreach at reducing disposable bag use. RHDG was able to assist CCCSWA with achieving a number of the secondary objectives and has provided recommendations in the following section to help shape future outreach efforts. Achieve a measurable reduction of disposable (plastic and paper) single-use bags by getting Central Contra Costa shoppers in the habit of bringing reusable bags with them every time they go to the store. ACCOMPLISHED: The Pilot Campaign increased ratio of disposable to reusable bags from 0.29 to However, both outreach and bag count methodologies could be adjusted to improve both outreach effectiveness and accuracy of post-campaign evaluation. Partner with 2-3 grocery stores to serve as venues for shopper outreach. ACCOMPLISHED: The Pilot Campaign included varying levels of participation from 3 grocery stores; Safeway, Lunardi s, and Diablo Foods. Partner with local school groups to assist with store outreach. ACCOMPLISHED: The Pilot Campaign resulted in a partnership with St. Mary s College and secured 20 student volunteers. CENTRAL CONTRA COSTA SOLID WASTE AUTHORITY BYOBAG PILOT CAMPAIGN REPORT BY RIEZEBOS HOLZBAUR GROUP 11

14 RECOMMENDATIONS During the development and execution of the 2011 BYOBag Pilot Campaign, RHDG was able to gain a significant amount of insight into how to continue to reduce disposable bag consumption in Central Contra Costa County. RHDG will work closely with CCCSWA staff to refine and implement any future BYOBag efforts to incorporate key learnings. The main recommendation for subsequent outreach is to focus on developing more robust volunteer (student group and other) outreach relationships in order to increase staffing resources and give the campaign the opportunity to become a more self-sustained community effort. Additional recommendations are outlined below. PARTNERSHIP & METHODOLOGY Coordinate with local school districts to increase issue awareness both with students and their parents, potentially tapping into a larger pool of volunteers so a greater number of tabling events are feasible at each store location. Conduct pre- and post-campaign bag counts prior to and after any campaign outreach using identical methodology and data fields. Leverage CCCSWA staff, RHDG, or partner organizations to oversee preliminary bag counts and tabling events to ensure consistent output. SHOPPER OUTREACH & CAMPAIGN PROMOTION Negotiate with stores/encourage the use of more store entrance signage. Coordinate with local media event calendars to increased earned media awareness of tabling events. Explore grocery store partnerships in other geographic locations. Coordinate with partner agencies and organizations to promote the BYOBag campaign efforts and store tabling events. Coordinate with stores further in advance of campaign launch to ensure signage is up before the commencement of tabling events, but after pre-campaign bag counts. Develop a more robust method for acknowledging participating grocery stores and volunteer groups (including but not limited to the BYOBag webpage on the CCCSWA website, paid and earned media). CENTRAL CONTRA COSTA SOLID WASTE AUTHORITY BYOBAG PILOT CAMPAIGN REPORT BY RIEZEBOS HOLZBAUR GROUP 12