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SACRAMENTO – A
statewide media campaign to get
Californians to recycle more of their
empty bottles and cans made at least one
impression that can’t be measured in
pounds of plastic or gobs of glass:
Another state asked for and was granted
permission to use the marketing
materials.
California’s
“Recycle. It’s Good for the Bottle. It’s
Good for the Can” campaign, developed by
the state Department of Conservation,
has been licensed for use by the State
of Ohio. The agreement gives Ohio the
right to use television, radio and print
advertising that has been part of
California’s social marketing effort
since 2001. By taking California’s
ready-to-use creative materials and
localizing them, the Ohio Department of
Natural Resources is able to stretch
outreach dollars further than if it had
to develop advertising on its own.
“Ohio recognized that
by using our creative materials it could
lower one of the major cost factors of
advertising,” said Darryl Young,
director of the California Department of
Conservation and a driving force behind
the outreach effort. “Creative
development is costly and time
consuming, so Ohio saves in both of
those areas. It gets a really good
campaign, too.”
One television spot
follows a plastic water bottle on its
journey from the recycle bin to the
beach – where it is pleasantly surprised
to reappear as a lifeguard buoy. In a
second spot, viewers hear a
tough-talking aluminum can as it
joyously realizes it is reincarnated as
an aluminum softball bat about to whack
an incoming pitch.
The radio spots have
a humorous touch as well. In one, a
woman compares recycling her beverage
container to recycling her boyfriend.
Both, she surmises, deserve a chance to
be loved by someone else when she’s
finished with them.
After an initial
television and radio blitz in January,
Ohio began running the advertising again
in August and will continue the current
run through January 2004. A subsequent
media buy is planned for August
2004-January 2005.
The DOC allows local
governments within California free use
of the campaign materials. Likewise,
Ohio’s license agreement allows for
propagation of the campaign via local
recycling districts. California’s
contract with Ohio could set the stage
for use of the campaign in other states,
several of which have expressed an
interest.
“Just like recycling
gives new life to bottles and cans, this
campaign could come to life again and
again across the USA,” Young said. “By
spreading the ‘Good for the bottle, good
for the can’ message elsewhere,
California will help states leverage
their outreach dollars and boost their
recycling rates.”
While Ohio makes use
of the existing campaign, California is
looking at additional ways to increase
recycling. The DOC is targeting office
buildings and other places where people
gather in large numbers but don’t
necessarily have the opportunity to
recycle. Working with advertising and
public relations firm Riester-Robb, the
creative agency behind “Recycle. It’s
Good for the Bottle. It’s Good for the
Can,” the DOC is developing a program to
help businesses make recycling available
to employees and customers.
More information
about beverage container recycling and
the complete array of outreach materials
associated with California’s campaign
can be found at
www.bottlesandcans.com.
In addition to
promoting beverage container recycling
in California, the Department of
Conservation regulates oil, gas and
geothermal wells; studies and maps
earthquakes and other geologic
phenomena; maps and classifies areas
containing mineral deposits; ensures
reclamation of land used for mining; and
administers agricultural and open-space
land conservation programs.
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