Entry Category
Program Entry – Best Environmental Protection
Name of Intervention/ Program
Curb It. Don’t Burn It.
Background and Situation Analysis
Despite being illegal in Washington State since 1967, residential garbage burning remains a significant public health and environmental issue, particularly in rural areas like East Skagit County. Burning household waste releases toxic chemicals such as dioxins and VOCs (volatile organic chemicals), which can settle on crops and in waterways. These pollutants are linked to long-term health risks including asthma, emphysema, and even cancer, especially among children, older adults, and those with pre-existing respiratory conditions. Burning trash doesn’t just harm human health; it also increases wildfire risk and contributes to poor regional air quality. Outdoor fire complaints are the second-largest category of reports received by local government, with Skagit County consistently reporting the highest volume of complaints in the area. In response, the primary government agency responsible for protecting the air quality in the area wanted to find a way to reduce air pollution and protect the health and safety of the local community. They engaged our agency to develop and implement a pilot social marketing program aimed at reducing residential trash burning by offering an incentive of temporary free curbside trash pickup as a convenient, cost-effective alternative. The team reviewed existing data to understand the attitudes, behaviors, and beliefs of those who currently burn trash, as well as understand what would motivate these individuals to stop burning trash and instead sign up for curbside garbage collection. These additional sources included local trash subscription information from waste management service providers to determine percentages of households that do not have trash pick-up and therefore would be more likely to burn garbage, and demographic census data to define audience characteristics for the households in the targeted geographies. The team also conducted an online qualitative discussion with 11 individuals and 4 in-person interviews in the geographic region. Key insights that informed the campaign were: • Participants burn trash for various reasons, but primarily to avoid paying for waste collection services, fees at the disposal site, or fuel to get to the transfer station/landfill. Many indicated it is easier and more convenient to burn their trash than hauling it to the nearest disposal site. • Participants indicated low to moderate concern about the potential impacts of burning trash. Overall, participants were more concerned about environmental impacts (air/groundwater pollution and fire danger) than personal health risks. • Most indicated that the biggest motivator would be the benefit of free every-other-week trash pickup for the first 6 months. • More than 70% of participants indicated they would be at least somewhat motivated by free trash collection service for 6 months. The campaign was grounded in the principles of community-based social marketing in order to overcome cost barriers and shift behavior; offering a six-month incentive for free curbside trash pickup. Key stakeholders coordinated to manage service setup and retention, while trusted local partners, including the Fire Marshal and Solid Waste Division, helped amplify the campaign at the grassroots level through print materials, in-person outreach, and word-of-mouth promotion.
Priority Audiences(s)
The campaign’s priority audiences included residents in 5 East Skagit towns where curbside service was not widely used, and trash burning was common; Lyman, Hamilton, Rockport, Marblemount, and areas of Concrete outside city limits. Targeted zip codes included 98237, 98263, 98255, 98283, 98267, and parts of 98284. The priority audience consisted of individuals who burn most or all their household trash, do not currently have curbside pickup, and are open to signing up for service. These residents live in rural communities and are often older, white, male heads of household. Many cite cost, convenience, and habit as reasons for burning.
Behavioral Objectives
The campaign sought to promote safe, sustainable waste disposal, ultimately protecting the health and safety of the Skagit County community. Given that the priority audience is more motivated by environmental and fire safety concerns than personal health risks, the team defined the following framework for the Curb It. Don’t Burn It. campaign: Purpose: To improve air quality and protect community health and safety by reducing residential garbage burning in East Skagit County. Goal: Reduce the incidence of residential garbage burning by increasing adoption of curbside trash pickup among eligible households in the pilot region. Campaign Objectives: The primary objective of the campaign was to reduce residential garbage burning in East Skagit County by encouraging residents to sign up for six months of free curbside trash pickup. This incentive directly addressed the most cited barrier, cost, and positioned curbside service as a more affordable, safer, and more convenient alternative to burning. • Behavioral Objective: Get at least 92 households to sign up for six months of free curbside trash pickup during the pilot campaign, representing a 15% increase in participation. • Retention Objective: Ensure that at least 74 households continue curbside service after the free trial ends, transitioning them to long-term customers of Waste Management (WM).
Description of Strategy/Intervention
Qualitative research with 15 residents who currently burned trash uncovered several key barriers: • Cost of curbside service. • Convenience of burning. • Lack of perceived harm from burning. • Physical challenges bringing cans to the curb on rural properties. The research also uncovered the following benefits and motivators for stopping trash burning and signing up for curbside pickup: • Saving time and effort vs. transfer station trips. • Free 6-month garbage service incentive. • Avoiding the $750 fine for burning. • Reducing fire danger and protecting the environment. These insights shaped the core value proposition: Curbside service is cheaper, safer, and easier than people think. The social marketing strategy focused on using communication to raise awareness of the benefits of curbside pickup and drive enrollment in the pilot, supported by incentive, social diffusion, and convenience strategies to spur behavior change. Communication: The campaign used communications as a core strategy to overcome barriers, highlight benefits, and promote the free curbside incentive. Communications were direct and values-based, appealing to residents’ desire to protect their land, reduce wildfire risk, and avoid fines. Messaging was developed to cut through skepticism and normalize curbside pickup as a smart, neighborly decision; driving home the message that this was not only better for the environment and public health, but also easier and potentially cheaper than trips to the transfer station or risking a $750 fine for illegal burning. The communications strategy prioritized: • The campaign’s tagline, “Curb It. Don’t Burn It.”, was paired with a clear and incentive-forward headline: “Free Trash Pickup for Six Months.” • Environmental and safety framing: “Sure beats breathing garbage smoke any day of the week”. • Consistent co-branding with Waste Management to build trust. • Flexible formats to ensure the message could be delivered through community partners, mail, social media, and conversations. Incentive: The pilot program’s central offer was a six-month incentive for free curbside trash pickup, designed to overcome cost barriers and shift behavior. This incentive directly addressed the most cited barrier, cost, and positioned curbside service as a more affordable, safer, and more convenient alternative to burning. All creative executions, from the campaign name to the ad copy, reinforced the value proposition, while also educating about the harms of burning. Social Diffusion: Because trash burning was seen as a normalized behavior, shifting social norms was a key component of the strategy. The campaign leveraged trusted messengers in the community, such as the Skagit County Fire Marshal, public health officials, and local neighbors, to promote the curbside incentive and encourage behavior change. These individuals were selected not only for their credibility, but also for their ability to reinforce that curbside service was a smart, neighborly choice. Word-of-mouth played a significant role, with residents sharing the program on social media or in conversations, helping to create new norms around trash disposal. Convenience: Ease of access was a strategic priority. Recognizing that cost and complexity were key obstacles, the campaign removed friction by offering multiple, low-barrier sign-up methods, online, by mail, phone, and in person. Participants also received direct support from clean air agency staff, who personally followed up with each individual to confirm service details, troubleshoot issues, and ensure a smooth start. This “high touch” model was intentionally designed to build trust and reduce dropout, especially among older residents or those skeptical of government programs.
Implementation
The Curb It. Don’t Burn It. campaign was built around a clear and urgent goal: Reduce illegal residential garbage burning in East Skagit County by encouraging households to adopt curbside trash collection instead. Research showed that burning was widespread in this rural region, driven by cost, convenience, and lack of awareness about health and environmental risks. A behavior change strategy and community-based social marketing framework guided implementation, with an emphasis on accessibility, trust, and repetition to build new social norms: • The Problem: Trash burning is a persistent, normalized behavior among rural residents, despite being illegal and harmful to health, safety, and air quality. • The Advantage: Free curbside trash pickup is convenient, affordable, and safer. • The Strategy: Use a strong financial incentive to overcome cost barriers while leveraging trusted community voices and media channels to drive awareness and adoption. • The Insight: People are motivated by environmental, wildfire and health risks concerns. Many are unaware of how cheap and easy curbside pickup can be. Main Message: Trash pickup is easy, affordable, and convenient: Curb It. Don’t Burn It. A secondary message reinforced the benefit of the behavior change: “Sure beats breathing garbage smoke any day of the week.” Campaign Dissemination Strategy: Campaign materials and messaging were deployed using two primary channels: • Paid and earned communications to reach priority audiences through trusted and local channels. • Partnerships with community-based organizations and influencers, empowering them to distribute materials and recommend the program. Tactics: The Curb It. Don’t Burn It. pilot launched in East Skagit County in June 2024, targeting rural residents who burn most or all their trash. Key tactics used to drive repeated exposure, ease of access, and support for sign-up included: • Website and Sign-Up Infrastructure: o Created a dedicated campaign landing page with a simple online sign-up form and program FAQ. o Offered alternative sign-up methods, by phone, by mail, and at in-person events, to address convenience as a key barrier identified in qualitative research and ensure accessibility for older, rural residents. o NWCAA staff provided direct follow-up and support for every sign-up. • Direct Mail and Print Materials: o Sent two postcards to over 1,000 households in the pilot area: one announcing the program launch, and a second reminder mailing to prompt late sign-ups. o Designed posters, flyers, and program overview sheets for use at transfer stations, events, and local businesses. o Delivered campaign stickers to participants for display on new garbage carts. • Paid and Organic Outreach: o Placed three print ads in the Concrete Herald to increase visibility in a trusted local channel. o Shared campaign details in community Facebook groups and forums. o Ran Facebook ads targeted to the pilot zip codes to raise awareness and drive website traffic. • Community-Based Outreach o Conducted tabling at four community events in the pilot area. o Provided sign-up forms (paper and digital), FAQs, and cost comparison sheets at each location. o Partnered with the Skagit County Fire Marshal, transfer station staff, and other local figures to distribute materials and reinforce messaging.
Evaluation Methods and Results
Evaluation Methods The Curb It. Don’t Burn It. campaign was evaluated to assess its success in reducing residential garbage burning by increasing adoption of curbside pickup in East Skagit County. The evaluation focused on three core areas: behavior change (sign-ups and retention), communications effectiveness, and audience engagement. The campaign’s performance was assessed using participation data, media metrics, and firsthand feedback from residents and partners. To track campaign impact, the client collected and analyzed the following data: • Curbside service sign-up data from Waste Management. • Website and application form submissions. • Digital media performance metrics. • Staff call logs and participant follow-ups. • Event engagement logs. • Anecdotal feedback from participants and partners. • Participants were asked how they heard about the program and why they signed up, providing insight into the most effective outreach channels. Behavior Change Objectives & Results • Objective: Increase curbside service sign-ups by 15% (92 new sign-ups). • Result: 118 new customers enrolled during the campaign (28% above goal), representing 16% of total eligible households in the pilot area. • Objective: Retain at least 74 participants after the trial period. • Result: At the time of reporting, 88 participants had continued service after the end of the pilot starting to pay the monthly garbage collection fee (23% above goal). Final retention data is still being compiled, but early indications suggest the majority continued service. Some re-subscribed after learning curbside was more affordable than transfer station use. Communications and Engagement Metrics • Website: 1,211 unique visitors; 1,860 page views; average session duration: 5 minutes. • Paid Social: Facebook ads reached 39,859 residents and drove 1,001 clicks to the website (1.3% CTR). • Print Advertising: Three half-page ads in Concrete Herald increased local visibility. • Direct Mail: Two rounds of postcards were sent to 1,058 households; the first mailing triggered a notable increase in applications. • Events and Outreach: Four tabling events reached 224 residents and resulted in 8 completed sign-ups (6 eligible). Key Insights & Campaign Impact Overall, the campaign exceeded its primary behavior change goal and demonstrated that a targeted, research-informed, and community-rooted approach can drive measurable shifts in behavior, even for long-standing and deeply ingrained practices like trash burning. When asked how they heard about the program, participants most often cited: Facebook (ads and local groups), flyers or postcards received in the mail, and referrals from neighbors or the Fire Marshal. These results suggest that Facebook advertising, direct mail, and word-of-mouth were the most effective communication channels. The team maintained high-touch support throughout the campaign, including individual follow-ups, onboarding, and a “Happy Customer Fund” to assist participants with any billing concerns after the free trial period.
Entry Letter: L