Recycling education is a challenge in any given community. The keys to reaching your community's residents are consistency, a reliable, effective recycling education platform like Recycle Coach, and unique ideas to reach your residents. Below, we've listed a few to help you get started.

1. Educate on #1 and #2 plastics

Residents falsely assume that all plastics can be recycled, or that any plastic bearing a number and recycling arrows is recyclable. One way to decrease plastic recycling contamination in your waste streams is to educate residents on which plastics can be recycled.

Your educational outreach is up to you. You can reach your community's residents through email or social media campaigns, you can create a series of blog posts that can be released through your municipality, you can create a radio or television showcase on your local news channel, or you can collaborate with local groups.

2. Implement targeted residential campaigns

Every town or city in North America faces unique recycling challenges. Targeted residential campaigns zero in on these challenges and aim to fix them. Using new technology, residents are educated about an area of concern, which promotes mass change.

One example is the recent case study conducted by the City of Newark to reduce plastic bag recycling. Using Recycle Coach, residents were taught not to recycle single use plastic. The result was an 82% reduction in plastic waste ending up in the recycling stream.

3. Network with local groups

Social media can be a force for positive change if you know how to use it. Search your location: you'll find grassroots social media groups in your area looking for ways to improve recycling, to be greener, and to make an impact on their local environment.

Take the opportunity to collaborate with them on Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Instagram, and TikTok. Tell them about your plastic recycling drive, and ask them to help you spread the word (with tips from Adobe Express). Collaboration is an effective tool for spreading your message to residents you wouldn't normally reach.

4. Host a community event

Hosting a community get-together with activities, proper disposal containers to serve as educators, and information panels and pamphlets gets you out there into the community and ensures you're a part of it. Meet the people where they are; otherwise, you're just another website. Other community events can include battery and e-waste collection days and park and roadside cleanups.

5. Sponsor a school-wide drive

School-wide drives are an old classic but you can put a fresh spin on them by inviting everyone at the school your team is visiting to download your recycling app. Once connected, you can access plastic campaigns, leader boards, and reward the kids with points and prizes.

Combine an outing to an endangered area or sanctuary with lessons on the app to teach kids about plastic pollution while on the go. Get them all to play a game in-app where they pick up plastic litter from a road in their neighborhood. Show them what a difference it makes!

Promoting plastic recycling in the community isn't always easy. People lead busy lives and don't take the time to stop and hear the messages around them. That's why using technology is so effective. By engaging them and making them a part of something bigger, we stand to impact real change.

The nation is recycling less plastic than ever before. It's time to make this year the one that your municipality stops the plastic epidemic for once and for all. Focus on inspiring residents to change their behavior and solve a key problem in the plastic recycling chain. Whether it's rolling out new education initiatives, connecting with local grassroots groups on Facebook, or hosting large community events online, everyone needs to be aware that plastic is a threat.