Louisville Metro Solid Waste Management: 2024 Campaign

Louisville Metro Solid Waste Management Services (LMSW or Solid Waste) is a Louisville Metro Government department dedicated to providing an efficient solid waste and recycling collection system for city residents, and educating the public on waste reduction and recycling.

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THE CHALLENGE

It’s not magic

In our second year leading communications for LMSW we decided to shift the focus. While the previous year’s “It Adds Up” campaign focused on litter reduction and asking the public to do the little things, this year we had a different challenge. Many residents feel that waste collection is an almost magical occurrence. You put your waste by the curb, and when you come home from work… it’s magically gone. They know that’s not exactly how it works, but when done right, that’s how it feels. However in order to build trust and engagement with LMSW and drive enthusiasm around keeping the city clean that had to change. We needed to put a face on waste reduction.

A billboard in a parking lot features a man in a yellow jacket and beanie with text: “Justin, 12 years. Let’s Keep Louisville Clean Together.” Several parked cars and trees surround the scene.

THE APPROACH

Putting a Face on Waste

The new campaign would put a spotlight on the many people that make the city’s waste reduction possible. Using portrait photography of the employees at work, and highlight their names and years of service. By building empathy and understanding of the people behind the work, the call to action would be to Keep Louisville Clean Together. Everyone has a part to play, and even with the tremendous effort put in daily by city services, residents still have a major part to play. From proper bin usage, correct item disposal, to simply picking up trash when we see it, we would highlight the collective effort needed to keep the city clean.

A man in a yellow safety jacket stands outdoors. Text reads: Angelo 17 Years. Let’s Keep Louisville Clean Together. A website link appears at the bottom: clean.louisvilleky.gov.

A smiling man in a blue jacket stands outside. Text reads: “Teven 12 Years. Let’s Keep Louisville Clean Together.” A web address at the bottom says: clean.louisvilleky.gov.

THE RESULTS

Impressions and Impact

The campaign leaned heavily on outdoor traditional media which ultimately delivered over 29,000,000 impressions. Adding to that reach was an additional 4,000,000 impressions across digital and social media. However one of the largest indicators of success was the over 10,000 visits to the campaign landing page directing visitors to waste reduction instructions, tips, and other resources. These visits demonstrated the high level engagement created by the campaign. Like many PSA campaigns however the true results will be in broader behavioral and cultural change measured across years.

Three posters feature city workers smiling and wearing uniforms. Each poster says Lets Keep Louisville Clean Together, showing their names and years of service: Teven (12), Angelo (17), and Troy (18).

A billboard shows a man in a yellow jacket and blue beanie with text: Lets Keep Louisville Clean Together and Troy, 18 Years. The sky is blue with light clouds in the background.

A portrait of a waste reduction employee

A woman with short curly hair, wearing a light denim jacket over a green shirt, stands outdoors in front of trash bins and a wall with tree shadows on it.

A woman wearing a yellow safety vest stands outdoors, looking upward and holding onto a metal handle, with a blurred background in grayscale.

Two workers in reflective jackets clean up litter along a roadside, each holding a large trash bag and a grabber tool. Highway signs and a mostly gray background are visible behind them.