A high-profile education campaign aimed at getting more Longmonters to recycle is part of a six-month collaboration with Recycle Colorado and funded by a grant provided by the Coca-Cola Foundation.
The campaign, which officially began in August, intends to increase recycling collection within the city and throughout the state, according to a news release from the city of Longmont.
Commerce City and Thornton also were picked for the campaign.
“This is a great opportunity to work alongside one of Colorado’s leaders in recycling, Recycle Colorado, and develop innovative approaches for outreach and education,” Charles Kamenides, Longmont Waste Services manager, stated in the news release.
The campaign includes advertising billboards in both English and Spanish that were developed and installed on several bus shelters across Longmont and a video created and filmed in Longmont.
Targeted information also is displayed through Google search results, third-party websites and city publications to reach as many community members as possible, the release states.
A different topic is emphasized each month, such as how recycled materials are transformed into new products and how the simple act of recycling can help create nine times more jobs than landfilling would, according to the release.
The whole effort is aimed at hiking interest in recycling, both locally and statewide, according to Laura Levesque, programs director at Recycle Colorado.
“One popular hypothesis is that consistent visual reminders could prompt us to recycle more and recycle better,” Levesque stated in the release.
Kamenides stressed the importance of “recycling it right,” using tips from the city’s Single Stream Recycling Guide. He also encourages residents to reference useful recycling tools such as the Waste Wizard, the online Collection Schedule and the Waste Services Mobile App — available on both the App Store and Google Play.
“Longmont is one of the top five recycling communities in Colorado, but let’s not stop there,” Kamenides said. “Every little bit helps.”
