UK: Recycling campaign raises awareness

Devon County Council's international award winning "Fistful of Rubbish" TV, press and poster campaign is being recycled by Cumbria County Council to raise awareness among residents about the importance of recycling rubbish.

The advertisements are part of the Devon Authorities Recycling Partnership's 'Don't let Devon go to waste' campaign, which has helped make the county the third highest recycler in the country.

Liz Poulter, Senior Waste Manager at Devon County Council, said: "I am delighted that Cumbria are making use of Devon's 'Fistful of Rubbish' campaign. Its witty and memorable approach has really driven home an important message.

"We've enjoyed our highest ever advert recognition among the Devon public and the number of residents recycling their rubbish has increased.

"It is in the spirit of recycling for local authorities to share resources whenever they can, and we hope the advert is just as successful for Cumbria."

The campaign
The television advert was directed by acclaimed actor and director Peter Richardson, famous for 'The Comic Strip Presents'.

It followed a spaghetti western storyline with a re-cycling stand-off ending with two men stripping naked and pushing their clothes into the clothing-recycling bank. As they strip off, an old lady passing by on her bicycle promptly steers into a ditch.

Humorous take
Nick Wright, Marketing Officer, Cumbria County Council explains why they chose to adapt the Devon campaign: "We wanted to use this innovative campaign because of its humorous take on recycling.

"Of course, the issue of waste management is of major importance, but a light hearted approach, coupled with a gentle reminder, is often the best way to achieve genuine results.

"The Fistful campaign gets this balance just right and provides an excellent opportunity to raise the profile of recycling across a wide range of audiences."

'Don't let Devon go to waste' is a county wide communications campaign which represents a partnership of 11 authorities across Devon including Devon County Council, 8 District Authorities and two Unitary Authorities.

The campaign commenced in October 2002 with funding and full support from the Department of Environment, Farming and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), following a study of waste and public attitudes.

Liz Poulter explains how the new stage of the campaign is designed to make residents more aware of packaging: "Easter Eggs are notorious for their extra packaging and our new a 10 second TV ad called "Ouch" uses a chicken to highlight this."

More info:
www.recycledevon.org