A mobile phone game teaches to recycle

by Francesco Rasero

A mobile phone game as a tool for boosting the separate waste collection, involving a young target, able to interact with innovative technologies.
This new tool has been added to the “Starve your bin” campaign, promoted by Recycle for London, in the middle of February «downloads were more than 900 since launch, in just one week», states Jonathan Edwards, press officer of the Mayor of London, which supported the initiative in order to increase the separate waste collection in the British Capital (now stuck at about 20%).
«This campaign is using innovative technologies to encourage Londoners to think before they throw away their rubbish and to feed their recycling habit instead –affirm the promoters- Meeting the digital generation, we put the recycling message directly into people’s hands with a mobile phone game. This is the first time that such technology has been used for a public sector campaign».
The software challenges the user to starve its hungry ‘evil bin’ by catching all recyclable materials in a green recycling box before the bin can eat them. Players score points for every item caught, but if the evil bin eats three items which should be recycled it’s “game over”.
This mobile phone game works on the majority of the most popular internet ready mobile phones in circulation, except BlackBerries.
Londoners can download the game by texting “BIN” to 62967 or directly from the campaign’s website; iPhone users can download it from the Apple Store on iTunes. All users can then forward the game to friends and also download ringtones and mobile wallpaper.
Boris Johnson, Mayor of London and Chair of the London Waste and Recycling Board said: «I am very excited that the new Recycle for London campaign is using innovative technologies to boost recycling and my message is to starve your bins and recycle, recycle, recycle».
For the first time, the Recycle for London campaign will feature in TV adverts, based on the adventures of “Alistair vs the Evil Bin” and also spread on the Net (starting from You Tube), in addition to more “traditional” media: radio, press and online adverts plus bus and Tube posters.
The advertising campaign was devised by agency WCRS and planned by Mediaedge; Java software for mobile phones has been developed by Incentivated.