6 Brilliant Hacks to Advertise Your Seasonal Trash and Recycling Events

With September just around the corner, so are seasonal paper shredding events, drop-off events for used tires, clothes, electronic waste, HHW, yard waste, and more. Whether you’ve already started planning for your recycling events or just starting to think about it:

These 6 hacks will help you advertise your seasonal trash and recycling events more effectively and give attendance a boost.

1. Communicate beyond just the “what” and “when”.

Don’t just tell your residents what and when your event is, but also tell them WHY. When people understand the reasons behind something, they are more likely to do it, or in this case, attend your event.

Depending on your media type, you can include bite-sized information such as:

• Success metrics from previous years’ events.
• Benefits of attending the event.
• Why residents should attend your event – instead of just throwing everything into the garbage (sounds obvious, but sometimes, a reminder is helpful).
• What happens next once the items are collected.

2. Free is key.

Are you collecting items at your event for free? If so, make that obvious on all the materials you’re promoting! Not only will “free” catch your residents’ attention, but it is also another factor in encouraging them to attend.

If not, consider offering to take in a limited number of items for free per person or for a reduced fee. This may also help reduce illegal dumping (or just throwing everything into the trash) for those that don’t want, or cannot afford, to pay a large fee to dispose of an item properly.

Another option is collecting the items for free in return for something. For example, you’ll take in the first electronic waste free if the resident signs a pledge to keep all of their batteries out of trash bins.

3. Unleash the power of Facebook.

Facebook is can be an especially powerful advertising tool considering that approximately 70% of all U.S. adults (and approximately 90% of all young adults) are using it, with the majority logging in daily.

There are ways to advertise beyond just posting the event on your municipality’s Facebook page (which you should still do):

• Create Facebook events: Facebook events allow residents to tag others in the event discussion area. Also, if someone clicks “Interested” for your event, that activity can show in their friends’ and families’ feeds, therefore expanding the reach.

Lastly, it will allow you a chance to directly communicate with your residents and answer any questions they have regarding the event.

Below shows real examples of residents’ questions and comments for a municipal recycling event on Facebook:

• Boost your post: Facebook ads are an excellent, low cost way to promote a large, public event. Target everyone in your city – or if you notice your event attracts a certain demographic, you can target your reach.

4. Include college media.

This is especially effective if your municipality consists of a high percentage of students.

First, college media (radio, magazines, online boards) are usually free. Secondly, you’ll be targeting a large majority of students, who you may want to reach for your events – especially if it’s for e-waste (computers, tablets, and phones that the students are using) and bulky items (especially when students are moving in/out).

5. Use Recycle Coach to send notifications directly to your residents. 

With the free Recycle Coach technology, residents will be able to see the event on their personalized recycling calendar, so they can plan for it weeks (or even months) away and set reminders for it so they won’t forget.

Additionally, Recycle Coach provides an option to send real-time (or scheduled) notifications directly to the resident!

On the right shows an example of a push notification sent directly to a resident’s phone, reminding them of a city-wide garage sale event.

6. Take advantage of the power of #Hashtags

A short, memorable, and unique hashtag for you event helps build a community, increases exposure, and makes it easy for people to find photos and stay up-to-date on any news you have posted. Many large events and conferences take advantage of this social trend.

For example, the ISWA World Congress & WASTECON® conference in Baltimore, MD this September uses the hashtags: #ISWA2017 and #WASTECON. You can still do the same on a smaller scale for your events and still reap the benefits.

Use it in social media where hashtags are appropriate – Twitter, Instagram, and to a certain extent, Facebook. Don’t forget to encourage attendees to use the hashtag.

Other key tips to keep in mind are:

• Maintain ongoing and consistent communications, then increase frequency in the final days.
• You can also include a short message in your voicemail and e-mail signature, especially if you usually are the point of contact for residents.

Remember you need at least two weeks to get the message out, so start now.