Campaign slogans for this year's “Slim Your Bin” campaign were debated at the Anglia Region Waste Awareness Campaign (ARWAC) seminar last month. ARWAC said that to maximise participation in kerbside schemes, it wanted a strongly worded strapline and proposed that “You bought it…You sort it” be used. But there was opposition to this at the conference, with some recycling officers saying that the message was too aggressive.
Since the seminar, ARWAC has asked different groups of people what they think of the slogan. ARWAC found that there was a high level of support for a strong message to make people sit up and think, while others felt it could be toned down with the word “please” being added.
The campaign will now be launched under the heading “Getting it Sorted” to emphasise that increasing kerbside tonnage is a joint council and public task. And the promotional leaflets will include the message: “You bought it… now sort it!” which is seen to be less aggressive than the original version.
Mark Shelton, chairman of the creative group, said it was essential to chose the right strapline. “The “Slim Your Bin” campaign is more than an awareness campaign. We do want residents to take action and the campaign has targets set accordingly. We need a hard-hitting message to encourage people to start using their kerbside collections more effectively.”
He added: “The strapline and slogans are important elements of the campaign as they will be carried on press releases, leaflets, posters, roadshow displays, refuse truck signs, radio adverts, competition material and more, and I think that the new wording will have a positive effect.”
ARWAC will launch its 18-month kerbside campaign in June.
The “Slim Your Bin” campaign was launched three years ago to reduce the amount of waste produced in the region and involves Anglia Television, 41 local authorities, local radio stations and newspapers.
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