Composting Food Scraps
in Your Community:

A Social Marketing Toolkit

June 2023	EPA 530-R-23-009


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Prepared for:

United States Environmental Protection Agency

Office of Resource Conservation and Recovery
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, D.C. 20460

Prepared by:

Eastern Research Group, Inc.
C+C, Inc.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The following agencies have generously granted permission for their
outreach materials to be used and customized by any U.S. state,
territory, local government, tribe and NGO, and have granted permission
to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to facilitate access
to these materials.

•	King County Solid Waste Division (Washington)

•	City of Portland Bureau of Planning and Sustainability (Oregon)

•	Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation

•	Metro Vancouver Regional District (British Columbia, Canada)

In addition, we would like to thank the Baltimore Office of Sustainability,
Hennepin County Energy and Environment, Minneapolis - Division of Solid
Waste & Recycling, and San Francisco Environment Department, for
providing insights and other resources that are available for communities
to use in implementing their own campaigns. All materials and additional
resources can be found here.

c/EPA

UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY | COMPOSTING FOOD SCRAPS IN YOUR COMMUNITY


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PURPOSE

The Composting Food Scraps in Your Community: A Social Marketing Toolkit (Toolkit)
is a resource for states, territories, local governments, tribes, and nongovernmental
organizations who wish to create a composting campaign in their communities.

More specifically, it is for communities that want to (1) launch a new food scrap
composting program, (2) increase participation in an existing food scrap
composting program, or (3) reduce contamination in their compost collection
stream. It is designed to assist agencies that offer curbside collection or drop-off
locations for residential food scraps. The Toolkit includes a planning process that uses
social marketing principles to ensure communities are tailoring the campaign to their
individual needs, and it is accompanied by customizable materials.

WHAT IS SOCIAL MARKETING?	

Social marketing is a discipline that seeks to change behaviors for the good of society, communities,
and people. The discipline of social marketing is built on a significant base of research that shows
awareness and education alone rarely change behaviors. To create meaningful, sustainable behavior
change, social marketing uses research-informed strategies to overcome the barriers that are
preventing a specific behavior by providing people with personal, relevant motivators to act. This
approach increases the efficiency and effectiveness of marketing efforts by identifying the specific
behaviors that must change to achieve a program's goals, segmenting audiences based on who has
the highest probability of changing their behaviors, and identifying the barriers preventing the
behavior, the benefits to the audience of changing the behavior, and the motivators that are most
likely to overcome barriers and spur change. If you'd like to learn more about the social marketing
planning process, you can access EPA's online social marketing training modules here.

BACKGROUND

Many states, counties, cities, and communities across the U.S. offer food scrap
composting collection programs in their jurisdictions. These programs encourage (or
require) residents to collect food scraps (and yard trim) at home and offer curbside
collection or drop-off locations to aggregate and ultimately compost them. However,
no two community composting programs are alike. For example, some communities
may allow or require compostable plastic bags for collection, while others may not.
Some communities may accept all food scraps, while others may not accept meat or
dairy. The steps provided in this Toolkit allow communities and partners to customize a
campaign based upon their goals and the operation of their composting program.

This Toolkit is rooted in the principles of social marketing. It is designed to help
communities and partners create food scrap composting campaigns by applying the
social marketing planning process to their individual needs. To inform this Toolkit, EPA
interviewed six agencies that have implemented composting campaigns and
reviewed relevant research and campaign materials.

c/EPA

UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY | COMPOSTING FOOD SCRAPS IN YOUR COMMUNITY


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This Toolkit provides existing composting campaign materials that can be
customized and used by communities and it will help guide you through eight
decision-making steps necessary for planning a social marketing campaign:

c/EPA

UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY | COMPOSTING FOOD SCRAPS IN YOUR COMMUNITY


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SOCIAL MARKETING CAMPAIGN ELEMENTS

STEP #1: DEFINE YOUR PURPOSE, GOALS & OBJECTIVES

The first step in the social marketing planning process is to define the
campaign's purpose, goals, and objectives. These should be tailored to
the specifics of your composting campaign. You should make sure you
have defined each of these elements for your community before moving
further into the planning process.

Table 1 contains definitions and two examples of purposes, goals, and
objectives that you can adapt for your community:

Table 1. Sample rr

Why you are creating
the campaign.

Achieve climate goal of
reducing methane emissions.

Create a more viable and
efficient composting program
by creating a cleaner stream
of feedstock.

What you're trying to achieve in
the short- and long-term.

Increase participation
in voluntary food scrap
composting program.

Reduce compost
contamination rates.

What needs to occur to achieve
the goal(s). Objectives should
be measurable, focus on the
desired behavior changes, and
be as specific as possible (i.e.,
by who? How much? By when?)

1.	Increase awareness
about the program.

2.	Increase the number
of new sign-ups each
month by 500.

3.	Increase collection

of food scraps in residential
organics stream by
50 percent.

1.	Raise awareness about
what is and is not
accepted in the residential
composting program.

2.	Decrease the amount of
contaminants (such as
plastic) commonly found
in curbside bins.

PURPOSE

GOALS

OBJECTIVES

c/EPA

UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY | COMPOSTING FOOD SCRAPS IN YOUR COMMUNITY


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STEP #2: CHOOSE YOUR PRIORITY AUDIENCES

Priority audiences are groups of people who are likely to be receptive (persuadable)
to changing their behaviors. You should define specific priority audiences so that you
can choose messaging and communications channels that reach and resonate with
each of them. Choosing priority audiences for your campaign rather than creating a
campaign that tries to reach "everybody" or the "general public" will help ensure that
the campaign is as effective as possible. To determine priority audiences:

1.	Brainstorm all possible audiences in your jurisdiction.

2.	Choose your priority audiences—those who can most quickly and cost-efficiently
help you reach your goals and objectives (from step #1). For residential composting
programs, you should consider audiences that have access to curbside collection
services. Factors to consider when choosing your priority audience mix include:

a.	Size of audience: How many people in your community fit info the
priority audience group? You want to choose large enough segments
to be able to maximize your campaign's impact.

b.	Impact on issue: Does this audience have a lot of compostable
materials that are currently going into the garbage?

c.	Receptivity: What is the likelihood of positive receptivity to
composting messaging among the audience group?

You likely want to pick one or two priority audience groups for each campaign. Focusing
on a couple of audiences will allow you to be precise with the best messages (step #6)
and media channels (step #7) to reach your priority audience.

3.	Create a profile of each priority audience. What do you know about their
demographics (e.g., who are they? Where do they live?) and their psychographics
(e.g., what is important to them? What are their values and beliefs?). This profile can
be created using new or existing research from within your community. The profile
will help you ensure you choose campaign messaging that resonates with your
priority audiences.

4.	Consider influencers. Influences are people that can persuade your priority
audience group to change their behavior. For example, for composting behaviors,
an influencer audience could be school-age children who could encourage their
family to participate in composting.

It is also recommended that you consider equity in your priority audience selection.
Considering equity means thinking carefully about the residents in your community to
evaluate factors that could impact people's access to and response to a composting
campaign. These factors include things like preferred languages or unique cultural
influences or the cost or access to participating to composting programs.

c/EPA

UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY | COMPOSTING FOOD SCRAPS IN YOUR COMMUNITY


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STEP #3: IDENTIFY DESIRED BEHAVIOR CHANGES

After choosing and understanding priority audiences, the next element of developing
your campaign is to identify desired behavior changes that can be promoted through
your campaign interventions. Behaviors promoted should fall within the parameters of
social marketing behavior change principles, which specify that a behavior should be a
simple, clear and singular action that the audience can take. It is also important to note
that your campaign should be launched with just a few behaviors to start, and that
additional behaviors can be added overtime.

Brainstorm desired behavior changes. Below is a list of example behaviors to consider for
your composting campaign.

1.	Evaluate the potential impact of each behavior.

•	Impact: Will the desired behavior change have a large impact
on achieving your goals?

•	Probability: Are people likely to change ?

2.	Evaluate whether the behavior is non-divisible. Is the behavior a simple, clear, and
singular action that the audience can take?

Non-divisible behaviors with high potential impact and high probability of change are
good targets to consider for your campaign.

Sometimes there are several steps that your audience needs to take before the end
desired behavior change. Each step could have its own barriers and motivators. If this is
the case for the behavior you choose, it can be useful to map the steps in a behavior
chain and then identify where you need to start with your audience. Below is a list of
example behaviors to consider for your campaign.

•	Sign up forcurbside collection of food scraps

•	Collect food scraps in your kitchen

•	Use a kitchen countertop container to collect your food scraps for composting

•	Do not put plastic in your compost bin

•	Remove produce stickers before putting scraps in your compost bin

•	Remove spoiled food from containers and add to your compost bin

•	Drop food scraps off at a collection location

•	Bring your food scraps collection container to the curb on collection day

c/EPA

UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY | COMPOSTING FOOD SCRAPS IN YOUR COMMUNITY


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STEP #4: MAP BARRIERS, BENEFITS & MOTIVATORS

Based on your priority audiences (step #2) and chosen behaviors (step #3), the next
step is for you to analyze the barriers that may prevent your priority audience segments
from doing the desired behaviors, and the possible benefits and motivators that could
overcome those barriers. These elements are defined as follows:

•	Barrier: Anything that reduces the probability of the priority audience
engaging in the desired behavior

•	Benefit: The benefits that will be delivered to the audience if they practice
the behavior (what is in it for them?)

•	Motivator: What will motivate the audience to act to change their behavior?

The following sections outline common barriers, benefits, and motivators for behaviors
related to composting and keeping compost streams free of contamination. This is not
an exhaustive list. You should evaluate each behavior you are seeking and define the
specific barriers, benefits and motivators that are relevant for your priority audience.

Barriers

•	Lack of awareness. Without adequate outreach surrounding composting
opportunities, residents may not be aware of their state or municipal composting
program. They may not know how to participate in the program, where the
drop-off locations are/which days food scraps are collected, or how composting can
benefit the environment.3

•	Lack of knowledge about what can be composted. People may also lack information
or be confused about what materials are accepted in their composting program. This
confusion drives contamination when unacceptable materials

are placed in compost bins.

•	Lack of convenience. Participation in a curbside composting program requires

that a household figure out a system for food scrap collection. Collecting food scraps
can be easier and more convenient when households have tools such as collection
bins with lids or compostable bags; however, people may not know about these tools
or may not be willing or able to manage the expense of them.4 This could also be
seen as a lack of automatic motivation - separating out food scraps is not
a regular household chore.5

c/EPA

UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY | COMPOSTING FOOD SCRAPS IN YOUR COMMUNITY


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•	Time pressure. It takes time to separate materials for composting. Research shows that
an increase in time pressure is associated with individuals' stress levels, which

in turn distracts individuals from environmental issues, making it less likely they will
engage in pro-environmental behavior.6 Additionally, individuals' perceived lack
of time, including workload, housework, and family responsibilities, acts as a barrier to
pro-environmental behavior.7

•	The "ick" factor. Some people may perceive collecting food scraps at home to

be unhygienic or unpleasant.8 They may fear their collection bin could attract insects,
pests, and mold in the kitchen, which is generally a clean and hygienic space. Although
people may easily participate in other types of pro-environmental behaviors such as
recycling, they may get tripped up in the potential "immediate unpleasantness" of food
waste separation.9

Benefits

•	Addressing climate change. When people compost food scraps instead of putting
them in the trash, they keep a valuable resource out of the landfill and reduce
methane emissions that contribute to climate change.

•	Improving the environment. Many people view composting as a tangible action
they can take in their daily lives to help the environment.10 Instead of discarding
food scraps and yard trim, composting them transforms them into a nutrient-rich soil
amendment (i.e., compost) that can then be incorporated into yards, gardens, and
parks to build healthier soil, support local food production, reduce fertilizer use, and
reduce stormwater runoff.

•	Being efficient with your resources. Composting ensures uneaten food and food
scraps go to a good use and are not wasted.

•	Being part of a community effort. Residents who participate in waste collection and
recycling efforts become more connected to their community and are transformed
from passive receivers to "co-producers" of public services.11

Motivators

• "Doing the right thing." Composting and doing it correctly can make people feel
good about themselves for "doing the right thing." Many people assign moral value
to collecting food scraps due to feelings of obligation, guilt over sending food to the
landfill, and a feeling of responsibility to benefit future generations.12 Some people
view composting as part of their identity of being a "good provider."13 This may be a
good opportunity to remind people that they already have to deal with their kitchen
scraps in some way: it may as well be in a way that is good for the environment.

c/EPA

UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY | COMPOSTING FOOD SCRAPS IN YOUR COMMUNITY


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•	Keeping resources within the community. When people know that the finished
compost can or will be used in their community, they may be more motivated
to participate in a composting program.

•	Saving money. By removing food from the disposal stream, people can reduce the
amount of garbage being put in their trash bins. In "pay-as-you-throw" communities,
residents can save money by filling up fewer trash bins.

•	Helping to ensure the composting system works well/properly. When non-accepted
items (like plastics) end up in compost bins, they can contaminate the compost with
microplastics that end up in people's lawns and gardens. By only putting accepted
items in the compost bin, people can help ensure their food scraps

are put to good use.

To plan your campaign, you should map the barriers, benefits, and motivators for each
of your priority audiences (step #2) and your chosen behavior changes (step #3). One
of the keys to this exercise is to pick the top 1-2 items in each category to help you
focus the message strategy for your campaign. This is also a good point in the process
for a reality check: make sure that your benefits and motivators are strong enough to
overcome the barriers to each behavior. If they are not, you need to either increase
your benefits and motivators or pick a new behavior. Table 2 shows an example of how
you could map possible barriers, benefits, and motivators for some sample behaviors.

Table 2. Sample behavior, barrier, benefit, motivator matrix

PRIORITY BEHAVIOR

PRIMARY BARRIER

BENEFIT

MOTIVATOR

Collect food scraps
in your kitchen

The "ick" factor

Addressing climate change

Doing the right thing

Drop food scraps off at
a collection location

Perceived time pressure

Being part of a community
effort

Keeping resources within
the community

Do not put plastic in
your compost bin

Lack of knowledge about
what can be composted

Improving the environment

Helping ensure that the
composting process
works well/properly

Sign up for curbside
collection of
food scraps

Lack of awareness

Diverting food scraps
from the trash

Saving money

c/EPA

UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY | COMPOSTING FOOD SCRAPS IN YOUR COMMUNITY


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STEP #5 RECRUIT PARTNERS

Developing partnerships is a key strategy that can be employed to increase the
impact of your campaign. By working together on composting, partners can amplify
each other's efforts to create greater change.

You can use the following steps to recruit partners in your community:

1.	Develop prioritized lists of potential partners.

Good partners often have the following characteristics:

•	Complementary missions/goals.

•	Overlapping priority audiences.

•	Have something of value to offer/bring to the table and in turn, you have
something of value to offer them

•	History of collaboration and community involvement (a good partnership
makes things easier, not harder)

2.	Create recruitment materials (factsheet/pitch presentation that focuses
on the value proposition for each partner type).

3.	Conduct 1:1 outreach/partner pitch meetings.

4.	Create a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with partnership details to ensure
there is mutual understanding and accountability on both sides of the partnership.
The MOU may include:

•	What is the campaign providing the partner?

•	What is the partner providing to the campaign?

•	What is the timeline for implementation?

•	How will both parties report back on activities and results?

The following list includes examples of potential campaign partners. You
may find additional ones based on your community's specific needs.

•	Waste haulers	• Composting facilities/processors

•	Community composters	• U.S. Composting Council state chapters

•	Schools	• Restaurants

•	Parks departments	• Community gardens

•	Celebrities/influencers	• Elected officials

•	Community Based Organizations/nonprofits

•	Business leaders (will align better if the business is engaged in composting efforts)

•	Nurseries/independent hardware stores that sell compost

•	Retailers who sell kitchen scrap collection containers and compostable bags

•	USDA Cooperative Extension System partners

•	Compostable bag manufacturers

•	Kitchen scrap collection container manufacturers

•	Faith-based communities

v»EPA

UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY | COMPOSTING FOOD SCRAPS IN YOUR COMMUNITY


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STEP #6 DEVELOP MESSAGES AND MATERIALS

In social marketing campaigns, campaign messages should help drive the desired behavior
changes by presenting compelling calls to action and overcoming audience barriers by
emphasizing the benefits of taking that action. An effective messaging strategy for your
campaign will avoid the issue of message clutter: when campaigns deliver too many messages
at once, the audience can feel overwhelmed, which can ultimately lead to inaction. To avoid
this dynamic, it is recommended that your campaign materials each only focus on one
message at a time with the suite of campaign materials being able to cover both awareness
messages and multiple behaviors.

One of the recommended first steps to defining the message strategy is to map where your
priority audiences (step #2) sit on the behavior change continuum.

BEHAVIOR CHANGE CONTINUUM

For each priority audience, identify the behavior you want to
change and map your audience on the behavior change continuum:

Audience consciously
changes behavior

Audience becomes
loyal to behavior;
influences peers;
social norm develops

Audience has
good experience;
habit develops

Audience
becomes aware
of issue

Audience is
educated about issue

Audience
develops personal
connection;
benefits overcome
the barriers

SOURCE: C+C

oEPA

UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY | COMPOSTING FOOD SCRAPS IN YOUR COMMUNITY

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On this continuum, awareness is a necessary first step before behavior changes can be
addressed. If people are not aware of an issue, they are unlikely to engage with specific
behavior change messages. Once they are aware and have a level of understanding,
then you need to create personal relevance for them by helping them understand they
have potential to reduce the amount of food they waste. After this understanding is
established, specific behavior changes can be promoted (differentiation). The
campaign can help spur initial behavior changes where the audience tries behaviors for
the first time. Hopefully people have a good experience (satisfaction), leading them to
establishing habits. Eventually, as more people practice composting behaviors, the
campaign can build loyalty and trust with audiences acting as advocates for the
behaviors and influencing each other to create social norms.

This Toolkit offers access to the materials from several composting campaigns that have
been conducted by communities in the U.S. and Canada and can help you deliver
awareness and behavior change messaging in your community.

KING COUNTY SOLID WASTE DIVISION, WASHINGTON

Compost Right

King County's Compost Right Campaign encourages residents to avoid plastic
contamination by putting only food scraps - and not food packaging - in their compost
bin. The campaign encourages King County residents continue to help both the
environment and the economy by composting their food scraps and yard waste.



Food in, plastic out.

That's how you

Compost Right.

kingcounty.gov/compost-right	K'ng County

SEPA

UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY I COMPOSTING FOOD SCRAPS IN YOUR COMMUNITY	11


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CITY OF PORTLAND BUREAU OF PLANNING AND SUSTAINABILITY, OREGON

Include the Food

Portland's composting campaign was created in 2011 when they expanded to include
food waste in their composting program. These materials encourage residents to
include food scraps in their green bin along with yard waste.

WHEN YOU'RE DONE
WITH IT, I WANT IT.

@001)
ill aeatesxil
fto fe R5)DD @S]f50

WWW.PORTLANDCOMPOSTS.COM vi/

VERMONT DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION

Let's Scrap Food Waste

The focus of this campaign is to create awareness of Vermont's landfill ban,
communicate why it is important to keep food scraps out of landfill, and share tips on
how to reduce wasted food.

FOR A

/ LET'S

fSCRAP^

I FOOD /
\WAST^/

HEALTHY
ENVIRONMENT

#E

UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY I COMPOSTING FOOD SCRAPS IN YOUR COMMUNITY	12


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METRO VANCOUVER REGIONAL DISTRICT

Food Scraps Aren't Garbage

This campaign launched in 2014 to build awareness of Metro Vancouver's Organics
Disposal Ban and help residents use their green bins. It can be used to communicate
specific messages, such as reducing contamination, connecting using the green bin
and climate change, or building social norms.

These campaigns include a mix of awareness and specific behavior change
messaging. You can access all the campaign materials here. It is recommended that
you look back at the framework you have created so far for your campaign using
steps #1 -#5 in this Toolkit and evaluate which of these campaigns might work well in
your community. You could also choose to create new materials based on the
planning framework you have established.

If you're planning to use campaign materials in this Toolkit, here are some guidelines
to follow:

1.	While four communities have provided a set of campaign materials

for use by partners across the U.S., it's recommended that you choose one
campaign to implement in your community. This way your campaign will
be more consistent and cohesive across communication channels.

2.	The Toolkit provides native design files for all materials so that they can be
customized by partners. We encourage customization of the materials to
include your logo, branding, and link to your website; however we highly
recommend keeping the message and overall concept intact. If you use
Metro Vancouver's materials, please provide attribution to Metro
Vancouver on your website, posters, or where space allows.

3.	Materials provided cannot be used for commercial purposes.

SERA

UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY | COMPOSTING FOOD SCRAPS IN YOUR COMMUNITY	13


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STEP #7: CREATE AN IMPLEMENTATION PLAN

This step is where you determine how you should deliver your campaign's messages to
your priority audiences. The following section lists possible activities that you may want
to undertake. You should customize this approach based on what works best in your
community to reach the priority audiences you have selected.

• Campaign Creative and Material Customization or Development:

You will want to either customize the materials you've adopted from one of
the campaigns highlighted in this Toolkit or create new materials using your
strategic social marketing framework. If your priority audience includes
community members who prefer a language other than English, you will
want to transcreate your campaign materials. Types of materials you may
want to create include:

•	Advertisements (video, audio, digital, social, outdoor, print)

•	Organic social media content (for use on your campaign's
social media channels and also provided to partners to use)

•	Printable or downloadable materials and guides (collateral)

Transcreation goes beyond literal translation and considers both language
and the cultural context within which it is interpreted, to deliver effective,
culturally responsive and equitable communication campaigns to
communities of color and cultural communities. A number of factors
determine the way diverse audiences interpret messaging and brands—
including country of origin, race, ethnicity, gender, language proficiency,
etc. Transcreation looks at all of these factors to help craft messaging and
visuals that resonate culturally with audiences.

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•	Website Development: It is likely you will want to create a website so your
campaign has a place for consumers to learn more about food scrap
collection and your composting program.

•	Media Planning and Buying: Your campaign should include a media buy that
delivers campaign messages to your priority audiences. It is likely best to
contract with a media buying service that will work with you to strategically
identify the best advertising channels and negotiate good rates and ad
placements on your behalf.

•	Media Relations: Earned media—publicity or exposure gained from methods
other than paid advertising—can serve to help you distribute campaign
messages at key points of the campaign. This could include media outreach
surrounding the campaign launch, and around significant milestone
announcements.

•	Social Media Influences: A social media influencer is someone who is paid to
amplify your campaign's messages through their social media channels. If you
want to use this approach, you should look for influencers whose followers align
with your campaign's priority audiences.

•	Organic Social Media: Organic social media should be an integrated and
ongoing part of your campaign. The first step is to identify which social media
channels should be utilized for your campaign. This decision should be made by
looking at the channels that you have already and those that are most utilized
by your campaign's priority audiences. The channels chosen should be
monitored with a response strategy for comments.

•	Events: Events that include one-on-one education about the why and
how of composting are a great social marketing strategy to include in your
campaign. Think about opportunities for partnering with existing events to
deliveryour campaign's messages.

Timelines for implementation will vary by community based on the resources you have
available. However, it is good practice to think about running promotional windows
where you have concentrated campaign activity for a six-to-eight-week period
separated by times with less activity. This allows you to spread your resources and
audience engagement over a longer period of time.

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STEP #8: PLAN YOUR EVALUATION STRATEGY

The evaluation strategy for your campaign should consider inputs, outputs, outcomes,
and overall campaign impact. It is important to note that most local communities will not
be able to fully evaluate all four of these factors. Look at the data that is available or
could be gathered for your community and create an effective evaluation strategy using
the resources you have available.

•	Inputs are the resources (budget, staff time, etc.) that were invested in
your campaign.

•	Outputs are the reach and engagement of the campaign (people reached
through ads, events, partnership results, social media engagements, etc.).

•	Outcomes are what happen as a result of your campaign—the amount of food
waste captured by organics collection or the amount diverted from the
garbage/landfill, the number of people who signed up for service or started
putting food scraps in their composting bins, and changes in awareness and
attitudes related to participation in your composting program. This can be
done through surveys that track awareness, attitudes and behaviors, and
waste audits.

•	Impacts map back to your campaign's purpose (e.g., reducing greenhouse gas
emissions, diverting landfill waste, etc.). This can be done through extrapolating
these data points based on estimates of food scraps diverted from the waste
stream that you are able to calculate as an outcome measurement.

CONCLUSION

The goal of the Toolkit is to provide local communities with a framework for planning and
implementing effective composting campaigns. By sharing social marketing principles
specific to composting and customizable campaign resources, the hope is that
communities can leverage this work to efficiently launch local campaigns that help their
residents participate in composting programs. You can access the customizable
collateral here and you can visit EPA's composting webpaqe here. If you have any
questions about this Toolkit, you can contact SMMFood@epa.gov.

c/EPA

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ENDNOTES

1	U.S. EPA. "What is Composting?" https://www.epa.g0v/recvcle/c0mp0sting-h0me#whatc0m

2	U.S. EPA. Advancing Sustainable Materials Management: 2018 Fact Sheet. December 2020. https://www.epa.gov/sites/
default/files/2021 -01/documents/2018 ft fact sheet dec 2020 fnl 508.pdf

3	Oehman, Jessica M, Callie W. Babbit, and Carli Flynn. "What Predicts And Prevents Source Separation of Household Food
Waste? An Application of the Theory of Planned Behavior." Resources, Conservation and Recycling, Volume 186, 2022,

106492 https://doi.org/10.1016/i.resconrec.2022.106492

4	Allison, Ay§e Lisa, Fabiana Lorencatto, Susan Michie, and Mark Miodownik. "Barriers and Enablers to Food Waste
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c/EPA

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