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Fairfax County Launches Inclusive Bus Shelter Ad Campaign, "I Recycle"
Kirsten Büchner, Outreach and Engagement Specialist
Fairfax County
This spring, the Fairfax County Solid Waste Management Program (SWMP) received a $30,000 funding allocation to develop and implement a bus shelter advertising campaign around the general topic of recycling. The funding came from the $0.05 per-bag taxes collected from plastic bag usage.
The SWMP Outreach & Education Team (OET) decided to focus on three main messages:
- People who look and sound like me can recycle,
- Specific items should be recycled/should be recycled right, and
- Recycling reduces waste.
The project sought to give people the opportunity to learn more about where they can recycle specific items and why it’s important to reduce waste in general.
In support of the County’s “One Fairfax” equity policy, the OET focused on the Richmond Highway corridor. This area is home to the oldest African American community in the County, as well as a sizable population of Latin American/Spanish-speaking residents. Due to historical marginalization, these communities tend to be unfamiliar with County waste management and recycling policies, programs, and practices. To reach this community, the OET adopted a “community champion” model implemented successfully by the Fairfax County Health Department during the COVID pandemic to engage trusted community leaders to help amplify the key messages.
The outreach posters featured nine community leaders, including community advocates, small business owners, and well-known “regular” people who are active volunteers in area organizations and are very familiar to local residents. Each poster was produced in English and in Spanish and included a QR code that linked to specific content on the SWMP website available in multiple languages. The large poster ads were placed at 30 bus shelters along the highly transited Richmond Highway, and in communities with high scores on the County’s Vulnerability Index. The installations covered approximately 10-12 miles of roadway. To increase the likelihood the posters would get noticed, they were placed near the workplace or residence of the featured community leader, and therefore most likely to be recognized by their co-workers, friends and neighbors.
The campaign was implemented in two phases, with the first set of ads displayed between May 15 and July 15, 2023, and the second set of ads up July 15 through the end of October 2023. In reflecting upon the success of this innovative project, the OET believes any organization in the public sector that seeks to communicate educational information effectively within a high-density area can leverage existing relationships with community partners to endorse public service announcement messaging. Since community leaders tend to be trusted by their constituents, as well as relied upon to provide accurate information that will support their health and well-being, residents are more likely to see, be inspired by, and act on the information.
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