Information sharing and curbside recycling: A pilot study to evaluate the value of door-to-door distribution of informational literature

• Information sharing approaches were compared for a new curbside recycling initiative.
• The initiative enabled residents to upgrade to larger recycling carts at no cost.
• Door-to-door information sharing was compared to information on websites and mailings.
• Door-to-door delivery of information was most effective at increasing adoption rates.
• Half of recyclers upgraded to the larger carts, while half kept their smaller bins.

Residential curbside recycling has been shown to be an effective tool for communities to manage the challenges associated with increasing levels of material solid waste and landfill expansion. As community leaders make improvements to these programs their success can be dependent upon their ability to effectively communicate these improvements to residents so that action can be taken. One such improvement, the addition of recycling carts that can contain higher volumes of recyclable materials, was recently established within the city of Fairfield, Ohio. Information about the resident action required to obtain these new recycling carts was communicated by literature provided at the city website and in monthly utility bills. This study showed that a simple door-to-door delivery of the same literature resulted in a significantly faster adoption rate than these other means of communication. Within four weeks, 50% of households already recycling had converted to the larger volume recycling carts after receiving door-to-door delivery of literature, while only 5% of recyclers had converted to the larger carts in the control neighborhood which relied exclusively on city sources for program information. The door-to-door literature delivery did not increase the percentage of households that were recycling on a weekly basis. This study shows strong acceptance by community residents for the availability of different sizes of recycling containers. It also shows that a simple door-to-door delivery of literature could be done at low cost and should be effective for communicating improvements to curbside recycling programs and other community initiatives where resident action is desired.