Dive Brief:

• Paint it, and they will notice. That seems to be the view of Washington, DC’s Department of Public Works, which has in the works an inspiring way to draw attention to the district’s recycling program: by way of vividly decorated recycling trucks.
• Partnering with the Commission on Arts and Humanities, the DC Department of Public Works held a competition in which artists submitted artwork to be emblazoned on the recycling trucks. Ten winning artists’ works were chosen, and each creator was paid $2,500.
• The Commission is in the process of transferring those artworks to the 10 trucks which will bear them. Those trucks will be unveiled through the summer.

Dive Insight:

Getting students and the adult world to take notice of recycling trucks by beautifying them with artwork is a simple, rather graceful way of drawing attention to the entire subject of waste and how society deals with it.

DC is not the first city to try its hand at this, with cities like Houston and Philadelphia with similar projects as well.

Commissioning artists (even through prize money) to create eye-catching images for recycling trucks taps into existing talent pools to spread the message of recycling a bit further.