How North Carolina Funds, Gathers and Uses Data to Make Decisions About Recycling Education

Started : 2005Audience: High school, College, 20 some-thingsCommunication Methods: Schools & Universities, Radio, Athletic Events, Radio, Social MediaDesired Behavior: Increased recycling participation & enthusiasm for recycling

Started : 2000Audience: PreK-8th gradeCommunication Methods: Schools, TVDesired Behavior: Increased recycling at home, school and on-the-go

Started : Pretest PhaseAudience: 35-55 year oldsCommunication Methods: Local Government Curbside Recycling Programs, TV, Newspaper, Radio, Truck AdvertisementsDesired Behavior: Increased curbside recycling

Outreach Surveys:2007 Surveys - Spring , 8 colleges and youth groups throughout NCCary, Charlotte, Hickory, New Bern, Raleigh, Wilson, Wingate, 341 respondents,58% female, 40% male, 33% between 11-18, 49% between 19-23

2008 Surveys - Spring, 5 outreach events all in the Triangle area, 304 respondents53% female, 46% male, 16% under 18, 46% between 18-34

2008 Surveys – Summer, 3 baseball events - Asheville, Hickory, Kinston, 81 respondents63% female, 27% male, 35% between 18-34

2008 Surveys – Fall, 12 day NC State Fair, 1089 respondents64% female, 34% male, 20% between 18-34, 31% between 35-50

2009 Surveys – Spring, 4 outreach events all in the triangle area, 387 respondents70% female, 30% male, 29% under 18, 40% between 18-21, 10% between 22-25

Annual Funding Amount Data Gathered By Results

<$1000 Interns conducting literature reviews Don’t use guilt messaging; Focus on what recyclables are made into; Provide recycling information via many communication avenues; Make recycling a habit; Provide recycling facts about energy, jobs, etc.

$5000 Street team conducting outreach survey work See Outreach Surveys, Brand Recognition and How do you spend your free time? Below<$1000 Social media performance measures & on-line surveys See Social Media Analytics and Insights below

Social Media Analytics and Insights:

Facebook – Members: 226 group, 50 page, 78 causeMySpace – 5193 profile views, 3589 blog views, 209 friendsTwitter – 132 followersFlickr – 25,486 views Recycle Guys, 16,891 views RE3.orgKeywords = “reduce, reuse, recycle”, “born to recycle”

Blog - 8967 visitors, 16 visits/day, 3400 visitors from NC,keywords = recycling song, recycling pictures, free recycling bins

Implementation Changes Due to DataRecycle Guys

Implementation Changes Due to Data RE3.org

Continue with TV ads-Branding well Utilize TV ads, but still not convinced demographic is watching

Continue helping to implement school recycling programs

Utilize social media as a way of communicating with demographic

Create recycling craft pages Utilize incentives to drive demographic to web site