AUGUSTA SOLID WASTE
Augusta Solid Waste, the City of Augusta’s refuse disposal division, took a significant step toward a cleaner and greener community by beginning to adapt all of its solid waste department vehicles to the environmentally friendly CNG (Compressed Natural Gas) technology. They also had a major service change with trash pickup coming, changing from picking it up twice a week to once a week.
Sometimes, it is pretty easy being green.
Visit the website to learn more: http://www.augustasolidwaste.com/
The SITUATION
Augusta Solid Waste came to M3 in early 2013 with plans to make colossal changes in the way waste was collected in the city of Augusta: Converting all garbage trucks, street sweepers, and eventually all department vehicles to CNG. They said it seemed like the right thing for a company charged with keeping the community clean to do.
Augusta Solid Waste wanted to leverage this opportunity to tighten its image, transforming itself from ‘the garbage man’ to an innovative and forward-thinking organization focused on the health and welfare of its community.
The Plan
We began developing a tagline, “Cleaner. Greener. Smarter.” which led to a new visual identity, including new logos for the organization and the 311 systems allowing for customer questions and complaints. It would was our belief that getting noticed would lead to being appreciated.
Next was a comprehensive web redesign, with the goal of presenting Augusta Solid Waste as tech savvy – requiring an equally-slick hub for communications. The site’s intent was to accurately convey information regarding trash pickup schedule changes while serving as a source of calendar items, news, and to promote the company.
Finally, it was time to get the word out through a multi-faceted approach. Targeted customer letters highlighted schedule changes right in people’s mailboxes. We designed a trade show presence to include custom banners, flags, tents, and posters. Eye-catching print and outdoor advertising, coupled with on-site animations, cemented the full campaign.
From the bright, bold message-driven wraps we designed for both CNG garbage and recycling trucks to new collateral pieces, we wanted people to understand this was something innovative – but most importantly, that it was clean.
That IS a company like Augusta Solid Waste’s mission, after all!
