The appeal of Peel's organic

by Eleonora Anello

A very attractive vision that coordinates true images of an organic waste that returns to a beautiful new life. While we are seeing a continued spread among the population of practicing separate waste collection, one of the habits that is taking off slowly, mainly because of strong resistance, is the organic waste collection. We speak of a campaign of environmental communication, perhaps a bit dated, built in 2007 in Canada, which has achieved excellent results in a surprising time, that is when the environment was not considered so important.

To reach 70% of organic crop by 2016, the Region of Peel has developed a broad action commonly known as "Organics Recycling Program”, which began with "See waste in a new way. Organics recycling waste Gives New Life”. This first step was characterized by a message reinforced by meaningful images that have been admired by insiders to be part of a small event in the network.

The promoters’ invitation, coded primarily through the images, was therefore a look at the organic waste from another point of view, turning the vision and refocusing on the result of the recycling process: from smelly fish bones will be born beautiful flowers, just as lush tulips can sprout from banana peels.

In reality, the “Organics Recycling Program” aims to make the region an independent waste management area, especially in order to produce a “Made in Peel” compost, a brand that has been communicated to the citizens as a bearer of wealth as well as an advocate of independence. In this regard, Elaine Moore, the then chairman of the Public Works Committee stated: «We are excited to launch this program and are proud of our reputation as a leader when it comes to waste management and recycling. Diverting organic material from the waste stream is to reduce dependence on landfills Peel, creating a more environmentally responsible waste management».

In June, three months after its launch, about 50% of households had joined the program, collecting more than 7,300 tons of organic material that gave rise to almost 1,900 tons of finished compost, enough to cover 71 football fields.
One year on, the data had stabilized: «We are helping to make Peel a sustainable eco-community - says Andrew Pollock, director of waste management - Approximately 50% of households that received a green bin are participating in the program. We invite all families to participate by placing their food waste and soiled paper products in their green bin. It is easy to do and the environmental benefits are substantial».

If the campaign made on the traditional media has had good effects, the virtual one hasn’t been able to match the same results. The part of the site of the region dedicated to the program has been updated to 2008. Worse still, is the presence on the social networks. A Facebook group has been created to track the number of families who diligently participated in the program, the posts are limited to 4 while the members to 16. Perhaps in 2007 the campaign was too advanced!