Dive Brief:
- New York-based Recyclebank, a company that offers waste-focused behavior change programs in collaboration with cities and brands, has entered a partnership with Disney to teach families and children how to recycle. They are launching a three-month campaign, The Magic of Conservation, to engage the public through digital games, storytelling, quizzes, and slideshows offering interactive teaching moments.
- Participants earn points as they play games and learn about recycling, and can use their points toward rewards.
- Recyclebank CEO Javier Flaim told Sustainable Brands that digital content will be key, with new materials released throughout the campaign complemented by tools such as a Twitter chat to get the word out about the campaign and invite participation.
Dive Insight:
Learning is lasting when it’s fun, engaging, and relatable. Therefore educating through interactive digital technologies is a first step to the "aha" moment that comes before shifting to new sustainable habits.
This methodology was seen during a University of Washington project to boost recycling and composting with an interactive collection station that calculates and displays potential money savings when disposing of materials.
Recyclebank has affected change many times before. Through its programs it has increased recycling efforts in more than 300 communities since 2004 and helped divert 1.5 billion pounds of trash from landfills in 2015 alone.
"We strongly believe that behavior change starts with education," said Flaim to Waste360. "Our overall goal is to make meaningful change with respect to decreasing waste, improving recycling habits, and raising resident awareness and participation with waste and recycling in communities throughout the US."
Recyclebank plans to extend its reach beyond families; the organization is working to foster public and private partnerships with more municipalities, residents, companies, and brands who want to improve ways waste is handled, including through recycling.
