The Gigantic Team’s Top Takeaways from CRRA 2025

August 18, 2025 The Gigantic Team

As we have every year for decades (!), members of the Gigantic team attended CRRA 2025, the premier conference for zero waste and resource recovery professionals in California. Each GIS attendee had different highlights and takeaways, but as usual, we brought home information and inspiration to help our work.

Kas enjoyed seeing colleagues and making new connections:

One big highlight was getting to spend quality time with our team! It was inspiring to see Myer at his first multi day conference event; Nancy who always asks the most potent questions; and Lisa reflect on changes over the decades she has been involved with CRRA.

It was wonderful to see former Gigantic staffer Freddy Coronado excel at his role as President of NCRA (Northern California Recycling Alliance). And of course, we can’t forget the amazing Abbe sisters’ lyrics and performances at NCRA Players…talk about talent!

Beyond the vibe (which we can all agree was awesome), it was a wonderful opportunity to learn more about AB1383, AB54, new challenges of HHW and a chance to lean into the Behavior Change Technical Council. I am always inspired by presentations on reuse and circular economies — especially the presentation by business incubator Beam.

Stef attended remotely this year; while she missed the networking IRL, she still took away many meaningful tidbits:

Besides deep dives on waste characterization studies, lid flipping and SB54, I found some interesting connections between waste/recycling and energy. The fact that nitrogen production for fertilizer is the eleventh largest energy user—as shared by keynote panelist Cara Rose Ostrander—should give compost another selling point as an alternative to synthetic fertilizer.

The session about zero emission hauler fleets gave me hope that, although requirements for the private sector have been reversed, several haulers that have already started investing in EV trucks are unlikely to reverse course because they have seen dramatic benefits related to safety, noise and air pollution. One hauler’s biggest concern surprised me: it wasn’t EV trucks’ price tags (almost double the cost of conventional trucks) but the rise of energy-hungry AI data centers whose competition for electricity could drive up costs to keep EV fleets running.

Nancy relished the sessions but couldn’t stop worrying:

Spending three plus days in a beautiful, LEED certified hotel, surrounded by over 800 professionals working with heart and discipline to help people and the environment, was stimulating and also comforting. But I felt the constant intrusion of current events and upcoming challenges that will make all our work even harder. Climate change, the current political and social situation that is making recycling and waste reduction more challenging than it needs to be, and the coming threat of AI from social (job losses/shifts) and environmental (massive resource consumption) perspectives too often distracted me and I couldn’t help wondering, am I the only one obsessing like this or are others just putting on a brave front?

Myer was reminded of a primary role of environmental (and really any) communication:

Throughout CRRA I repeatedly heard the phrase, “meeting people where they are,” which truly resonated with me. I saw a great example of this during a session on the Santa Cruz County Green Schools Program. Instead of focusing on a single issue like litter and assuming it was the biggest problem, the program found more success by first surveying students to learn which environmental topics they were genuinely interested in. By addressing the students’ actual concerns, they achieved much higher engagement. They also found success when environmental education was integrated into the curriculum, not just “another thing” to add to it. This approach “turns learning into action,” empowering students with practical experience and according to Amity Sandage, the environmental literacy coordinator for the Santa Cruz County Office of Education, helps to “prepare students to be decision-makers”. Programs like these aimed at young students are a powerful tool for helping them develop sustainable habits that will hopefully last a lifetime.

Lisa was inspired by the connection between what we heard and our day-to-day work:

CRRA always helps me remember that our work matters! It’s too easy to get lost in the daily grind of details and deadlines, forgetting the big picture in the process. The keynote speakers reminded me of our ultimate purpose: to help steward the land. Tom Little Bear Nason, Tribal Chairman of the Esselen Tribe of Monterey County, reminded us that Earth is out of balance, but that Earth, Air, Fire and Water unite all of us, regardless of our skin color, where we live, or which god we worship. His words, along with those of Tim Krantz of the Wildlands Conservancy and Calla Rose Ostrander of the People, Food and Land Foundation, inspired me to reframe our work as ultimately that of restoration: We promote food scrap recycling to create compost to feed the soil; our watershed work helps keep pesticides out and heals the water; and much of our work reduces greenhouse gases and pollution to protect the air and all who breathe it.

After CRRA we get back to work with renewed purpose and look forward to the challenges of the next 12 months … before the next conference!

Conducting Environmental Outreach on Social Media in 2025

January 23, 2025 Nancy Roberts

Social media is a vital part of any environmental behavior change campaign these days, as it has been for years. But we are seeing massive changes: what used to work to reach people and get engagement simply doesn’t anymore. How people use and treat social is very different from ten or even five years ago. And this means our outreach strategy needs to change, too. Here are some quick tips:

How Many Words? Fuggedaboutit

Don’t worry any more about the optimal number of words in a post. The one word now is: VIDEO. Especially: short form, vertical video designed for Instagram, Facebook Reels and YouTube Shorts. An average person spends about 100 minutes per day watching online videos. AND…they are often watched with sound off (85% of the time for Facebook users), so it’s important to make sure you can get the point across without audio. See vertical video examples at the end of this post from Watershed Watch and Livermore Recycles.

Cache the Hashtags

Those #hashtags used to be vital to get your posts found, but now they’re passé. Supposedly those clever AI algorithms are analyzing and organizing your content so efficiently that hashtags, which used to help “index” posts, particularly on Instagram and Twitter, are no longer needed, though some do still recommend their limited use.

YouTube is King

Despite all the noise around TikTok, according to Pew Research , nine in 10 teens use YouTube, as opposed to six in ten for TikTok and Instagram. Among adults, 85% of U.S. adults say they use YouTube. This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t use other social channels, but don’t forget the ‘Tube.

Organic Reach Is Just a Dream

Going viral may be a dream, but reaching even your own followers organically is a nightmare. Reach and engagement, never robust, have been steadily declining on Facebook and Instagram. It may be time to think about social media as an advertising channel, where you get what you pay for, if you’re lucky and diligent.

Just because things are changing, doesn’t mean we give up. Social media can and should still play an important part in your outreach to increase recycling, stop litter, fight waste, and more. Outreach specialists need to keep watch on the metrics and be open to experimentation and testing to continue to reach people on social media. Good luck!

Next time: we’ll delve deeper into AI and how it can help – and hinder – environmental outreach.

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A post shared by Watershed Watch (@watershed_watch)

OOPS! Tags Tackle Cart Contamination

November 25, 2024November 25, 2024 Nancy Roberts

In environmental outreach work, reaching people when they are most open to effective feedback is always a challenge. Many waste agencies are using “oops tags” to indicate to residents that they have put the wrong items in the wrong carts, e.g. “OOPS – this item belongs in recycling” or “OOPS – only food scraps in the green cart, please!”

The Gigantic team has been working with clients on various kinds of OOPS tags for some years now. While we believe that customized, one-to-one outreach is effective, it is difficult to measure if the tags are responsible for positive impact.

We would love to experiment with taking the feedback one step further, by having haulers NOT pick up contaminated carts. This has been tried elsewhere, with positive results.

For now, we are continuing to refine and test various cart tags. Our latest effort: placing “OOPS” tags on Garbage carts, to draw attention to the large presence of food scraps and other items in the Garbage that should be recycled or composted.

Below are some examples of oops tags that Gigantic has created with various clients. We would love to discuss OOPS tags and the strategy behind them with you:

This tag, to be placed on Organics carts, is simple:

In 2023, we made a more elaborate tag that the outreach team could “customize”, depending on the contaminant. We understood from resident surveys that people were unsure or even skeptical about what happens to food scraps in the Organics cart. This tag also confirms that rich compost is made from the food scraps, and connects correct use of the organics cart with making healthy compost for farmers:

We are experimenting this year with placing an “oops” tag on the Garbage cart, calling out the items that should be in Recycling or Organics:

For Milpitas, we helped refine their tag design, which uses the same tag for all carts. Audit staff circle the appropriate cart, and provide very specific feedback on the types of items found (see image below). Milpitas staff have reported the tags are working work well, especially when they have the opportunity to speak directly with a resident, but that they need to add a few additional categories of contaminants.

While difficult to tie results directly to cart tagging, City staff noted that they are seeing some positive trends in households selected for a pilot project. The pilot area received food waste prevention outreach and then OOPS tags shortly thereafter. Follow-up audits over two years show some improvements. The fullness of the food scrap compartment increased from 8.8% full to 24% full. At the same time, contamination decreased by 42.5%.

There’s no one right way to use OOPS Tags, but they’re one of the most evidence-based ways to address contamination. They make a great addition to a cart-contamination reduction strategy.

Recycling: Hero or Villain? The Public Is Confused

April 18, 2024October 11, 2024 Nancy Roberts

Environmental specialists are working, like everyone else, in a polarized world where distrust of media and “truthiness” can make us question absolutely everything.

You’ve seen the headlines in everything from business press, public radio …

“Recycling Doesn’t Work”

“Plastic Recycling Doesn’t Work and Will Never Work”

“You Can’t Recycle Your Way Out”

“America’s Broken Recycling System”

At Gigantic, we work with clients whose jurisdictions:

Don’t accept “compostable” plastic
Do accept “compostable” plastic
Only accept Plastics # 1, 2, 5
Only accept “rigid” plastics
Ask you to put plastic bags in the Garbage
Ask you to put plastic bags in the Recycling
Accept paper cups in Recycling
Accept paper cups in the Garbage
Put pizza boxes in the Recycling
Put pizza boxes in the Organics

And on and on…

We can't recycle our way out of the plastic crisis - Insta post from Story of Stuff — Source: Story of Stuff Instagram

Is it any wonder that residents are wondering what’s going on?

If we had a magic wand, we’d wave it and make all this a lot simpler: focus on just a few of the most easily identified recyclable materials so that “waste” streams are clean and easily processed. We’d like to see:

All jurisdictions’ carts be the same color and labels as in other jurisdictions.
Every jurisdiction have the same “what goes where” instructions and
VASTLY simplify “what goes where” messaging to focus on the most recyclable items, in order to cut down on contamination. We have seen over and over that “wishcycling” is a real thing, and a real hassle for materials facilities.

But we don’t live in a perfect world. For now, environmental communicators need to be honest about the challenges of recycling, while reassuring the public that many problems can be solved and not to give up hope.

Is AI A-OK? Exploring Artificial Intelligence and Environmental Outreach

May 15, 2023 Nancy Roberts

fotor generated image of tree, cloud, water and person — This image – generated at Fotor.com – supposedly illustrates the use of AI for environmental behavior change campaigns…!

Everywhere we look these days, we see both excitement and warnings around the Artificial Intelligence (AI) revolution. How will the use of artificial intelligence impact our outreach? Will it make it easy to select the best way to communicate about environmental behavior change? Will it put environmental behavior change agencies out of business? ARGH.

While we don’t think we’ll be out of a job any time soon, we all know that change is the only certainty and that we will all need to adapt to this new ‘entity’. Let’s look at the current state of AI with a couple of examples from Google’s Bard chatbot:

I asked Bard:

“Write a Facebook post that will incorporate food waste messaging and Livermore’s Binny.”

Bard responded:

Sure, here is a Facebook post that incorporates food waste messaging and Livermore’s Binny:

Headline: Livermore’s Binny is Helping to Fight Food Waste

Body:

Did you know that one-third of all food produced for human consumption is wasted every year? That’s enough food to feed 2 billion people!

Food waste is a major environmental problem. It contributes to climate change, water pollution, and deforestation. It also wastes resources that could be used to feed people.

Livermore’s Binny is helping to fight food waste. They donate food to local food banks and soup kitchens. They also compost food scraps, which helps to reduce methane emissions.

If you’re looking for ways to reduce food waste, there are a few things you can do:

- Plan your meals ahead of time so you don’t buy more food than you need.
- Cook only what you need and save leftovers for later.
- Donate food to local food banks or soup kitchens.
- Compost food scraps.

By taking these steps, you can help to reduce food waste and make a difference in the world.

Call to action:

To learn more about how you can help fight food waste, visit Binny’s website or follow them on social media.

While the information is not totally incorrect, it seems as if Bard could not distinguish a Facebook post from a 185-word blog post. Despite having instant access to the entire Internet, Bard did not know that Binny is a mascot for Livermore Recycles, representing the Organics Cart; Binny himself does not “donate food to local food banks and soup kitchens.” While this post draft gives some ideas, it certainly requires human intervention.

I tried to push the AI to make decisions about which content to include in a short format, asking:

“Please write a tweet with the most important action an individual can take to combat the climate crisis.”

Bard’s response was very big-picture – for whatever reason, it did not focus on recycling or reducing individual carbon footprint, but on political action:

The most important action an individual can take to combat the climate crisis is to vote for climate-friendly candidates. Vote in every election, from local to national, and let your elected officials know that climate action is a top priority for you. #ClimateAction

So far, these responses are reasonable but not earth-shattering. Can AI provide the spark that really grabs attention? I tried to elicit some more creativity from Bard, asking:

“Please write a limerick about sorting waste at home.”

Bard responded with:

There was a young lady named Sue
Who sorted her waste into two.
She said, “I’m a bit green,
But I’m doing my scene
By recycling and composting too!”

Well, Bard, I think “doing my scene” is a bit weak, but this has a spark of life in it.

Finally, selfishly, I asked Bard, “When will AI replace the need for environmental outreach professionals?”

Part of Bard’s reply was appealing:

Here are some ways that AI can be used to support environmental outreach professionals:

- Create engaging and informative content:AI can be used to generate content that is tailored to the needs of different audiences. For example, AI can be used to create infographics, videos, and articles that are both informative and engaging.
- Track the effectiveness of outreach efforts:AI can be used to track the effectiveness of outreach efforts by measuring things like website traffic, social media engagement, and donations. This data can be used to improve future outreach efforts.
- Connect with people who might not otherwise be reached:AI can be used to connect with people who might not otherwise be reached by environmental outreach efforts. For example, AI can be used to create chatbots that can answer questions about environmental issues or to create personalized email campaigns.

Some interesting promises here that we will explore further. But, we also like Bard’s conclusion:

Overall, AI is a powerful tool that can be used to support environmental outreach professionals. However, it is important to remember that AI cannot replace the human touch. Environmental outreach professionals are still essential for building relationships with people and communities, and for creating lasting change.

Amen!

P.S. Bard does not yet create images, but I asked Fotor.com to “Create an image for a blog post about the use of AI for environmental behavior change campaigns.” The result (see above) is, well, interesting!

# # #

Rainwater: Collecting Our Most Precious Resource

December 14, 2021December 14, 2021 Lisa Duba

water scene at Magic Johnson Park — Magic Johnson Recreation Area, Los Angeles, CA

It’s mid-December, and we’re on our second “big rain event” of 2021-22 rainy season in the Bay Area. It’s been four weeks since the last storm, and for the past three years, total rainfall is way below average. This is a predicted new pattern: less frequent rain, bigger storms, persistent drought cycles. And, as the storms get bigger and rain falls in a shorter period of time, our storm drain systems can get overwhelmed and much of the precious water can wash away into the bay and ocean.

This past year, our team has worked with stormwater professionals in California to research the best ways to promote stormwater management techniques—that already exist—to capture and use rain water from these storms. A great example of what’s possible is Magic Johnson Recreation Area in Los Angeles.

This beautiful park uses built-in systems that mimic nature, and sustain the park while preventing pollution, capturing water, and providing residents with a beautiful open space.

Stormwater education has been almost exclusively focused on the pollution that stormwater carries to our waterways. The good news is that “capture and use” projects also clean the water, so it can be used on site for irrigation. This leaves more of our water supply for humans and wildlife.

Green stormwater infrastructure is an elegant solution that results in many benefits to communities: green space, more water supply, less dependance on importing water. It seems like a win-win, but is lacking in public awareness, funding, and integration with statewide water supply planning.

It will take ongoing effort to rebrand stormwater as a resource, and not as a source of pollution. Our team will do our best to help the industry simplify technical terms and jargon to resonate with voters and elected officials who need to support projects in their communities, and to state officials who must fund them.

California’s SB 1383: Communicating about Food Recovery

June 15, 2021 The Gigantic Team

Food recovery cuts waste and eases food insecurity.

California SB 1383 looms large on many of our clients’ minds—and on ours, as we help with the outreach portion of implementing the law locally. It’s an exciting prospect to see not only downstream measures like organics recycling mandated statewide but also upstream prevention, with the requirement to recover 20 percent of currently disposed food that’s edible to feed people. In this blog, we share some of our experience creating outreach tools for food recovery.

For local jurisdictions, this means not only figuring out the nuts and bolts of a functioning food recovery system, but also how to communicate to the affected parties. And the clock is ticking—by or before February 1, 2022, jurisdictions need to provide “outreach and education” to the first wave of affected commercial edible food generators as well as food recovery organizations and services.

The law may seem overwhelming, but fortunately a lot of the basic principles of good outreach are helpful here:

Segment your audience(s)

Consider your outreach and messaging to the different audiences as separate efforts. For example, the content, timing and channel of your outreach to the first wave of large food businesses (the state calls them “Tier 1” businesses) will differ from the second wave of smaller food businesses (called “Tier 2”), and both will differ from food recovery organizations.

There will likely be only a small number of Tier 1 businesses for most counties, and they will require direct outreach—phone calls, web meetings, emails and visits. Your learnings from reaching out to Tier 1 can help streamline your efforts for Tier 2. Consider this a test run!
Engage stakeholders

Put yourself in the shoes of businesses — they are not steeped in “1383” like we are. Since this is new territory for all parties, consider having interviews or web meetings with businesses to help you develop your content and/or test your messaging to see if it is clear.
Create outreach tools with clear and inclusive language.

Craft messaging with an eighth-grade reading level in mind—which is what magazines and popular literature generally use.
- Avoid regulatory terminology as much as possible and translate industry jargon into everyday terms anyone can understand.
- For example, define the term “recovery.” This is a term unfamiliar to businesses. Our clients have found it preferable to using the term “donation.” If that’s the case for you, help your audience understand what “recovery” is and provide context. For example, say, “Separate edible food that would otherwise be composted or landfilled so it can be “recovered” to feed people.”
- Be considerate and inclusive in your language e.g., say “food insecure” rather than “hungry.”

Plan a “multi-touch” outreach effort.

- Start with an official notification letter, mailed 6 months in advance. Keep your first “touch” simple, high level and focused on what’s coming. Rather than overwhelming them with details, get people’s attention first.
- Create a web page or site to hold detailed information, including any legal documents such as a local ordinance or a model contract for edible food collection services.
- Follow up your letter with direct outreach to affected businesses and food recovery organizations. Business outreach best practices have always relied on phone calls, emails, meetings and technical assistance to get results.
- To build general awareness of 1383 in the business community, consider partners like chambers of commerce, business associations and environmental health departments, and ask to be included in announcements using their email lists and social media channels.

SB 1383 is a complex law and an exciting prospect with laudable goals. Using the basic rules of good outreach and remembering that businesses need direct outreach, you will be on your way to helping California put edible food to better use—all while fighting climate change!

Zero Waste Holiday Outreach — 2020 Style

December 1, 2020 Lisa Duba

Well, if there’s one word none of us would like to hear in 2021, it’s “unprecedented.” Throughout 2020, so many things we took for granted in the world of zero waste and recycling outreach, such as promoting reusable bags and cups, had to be postponed or replaced with COVID-19-related topics, such as sorting shipping waste or putting masks and gloves in the trash.

Now the holidays are here, and we find ourselves in the same outreach predicament. We can’t rely on tried-and-true holiday campaigns like our “Giving the Gift of Good Times” video for Santa Clara and Marin Counties. (Click here for the 2019 version). No-waste gifts that involve groups of people, such as fitness classes, dining out, amusement park passes, or theater tickets are not a viable option this year. Even food waste reduction topics need a fresh take, as gatherings have been reduced in size or cancelled altogether, and some of our neighbors are facing food insecurity.

For our clients this year, we helped adjust messaging to cover these topics in a way that aligns with public health guidelines and new realities. For example, for Palo Alto, we created a “Create Joy, Not Waste” ad, web page and bill insert (above) to align with hosting a small gathering with Zero Waste style. Actions like portion planning, using reusable dishes, recycling bottles and cans and decorating with compostable decorations still make sense, even if it’s just for your own household.

We re-envisioned our Zero Waste gift idea list to remove gifts for in-person activities and include those that offer online versions, such as art classes and music lessons and streaming theater. Local options for all of these were available, offering another benefit to the community. Outdoor recreation is at an all-time high, so national and state park passes can replace amusement parks.

And lastly, if staying home means we’re more likely to buy “stuff” this year than past years, we made sure to provide options for zero waste gift ideas that eliminate or greatly reduce packaging waste—shampoo bars, unpackaged handmade soaps, or subscriptions for refillable beauty products.

We hope this inspires you all to keep the Zero Waste holiday outreach traditions going. Small tweaks to the messaging are all it takes.

Food Waste’s Impact on Climate: What Do Californians Know?

September 22, 2020 Nancy Roberts

Reducing food waste and diverting it and other organic materials from landfill is key to reducing methane emissions in the state. California’s SB 1383 establishes targets that many businesses are now working to meet. The implementation of SB 1383 was a major focus at this year’s California Resource Recovery Association (CRRA) Conference. As results come in, communicating about SB 1383 implementation and the efforts to reduce emissions will be important; but how much do Californians already know about food waste and its connection to climate change? We conducted a brief statewide survey of Californians to ask a few questions about their understanding of greenhouse gas emissions, landfill and food waste. Some responses were heartening, some were a bit depressing, but data emerged about how to communicate these concepts to different segments of the population.

See the slideshow:

To summarize, we noted:

Most Californians do acknowledge that climate change is happening, and that human activity is a major contributor.
However, 40% of respondents do not connect food waste with the climate.
Many people are unclear about what happens to food waste in a landfill.
Messaging about “doing the right thing” may resonate with several different audience segments.

As with any outreach effort, it’s best to understand how much your audience knows and how they feel about a particular issue before designing a campaign. This survey is just a first step in thinking about how to message about food waste reduction efforts and their relationship to the climate crisis.

If you would like a copy of the survey report, please email Gigantic.

Going Plastic-Free in Pandemic Times: A Tough Job

August 13, 2020 The Gigantic Team

Click above to see the phases of Dennis’ Plastic-Free July waste audit.

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Members of the Gigantic team have been observing Plastic-Free July for some years now (see past blogs). Besides being the right thing to do, it lets us understand how it feels to set and strive for challenging environmental behavior goals. This year, going plastic-free has been harder than ever, as COVID-19 concerns have made plastic more common, even in places like the farmers’ market, where it was rare before.

Team member Dennis Uyat decided to keep a record of the plastic he could not avoid during July, despite his best efforts, and reflect on how it could be avoided.

To get a handle on this pile, Dennis sorted the waste into categories. Note the new arrivals this year: PPE masks and gloves, which are a huge, problematic addition to the waste stream.

Next, Dennis came up with a strategy for avoiding these items in the future. While “reduce use” is a common call-to-action, we also like the gentler, more encouraging “do your best.” No one likes to feel like a failure at waste reduction or anything else!

Plastic is a problematic material. Lightweight, flexible and adaptable, it is also, more importantly, a pervasive, harmful pollutant that has reached all corners of the planet and into our bodies. Efforts like Plastic-Free July can help raise awareness of the ever-present plastic in our lives and help us be more mindful about avoiding it as much as possible.

Segment your audience(s)

Engage stakeholders

Create outreach tools with clear and inclusive language.

Plan a “multi-touch” outreach effort.