Looking for Projects Related to Boating, Non-Toxic Purchases and Reducing Yard Chemical Use

Hello Michael,

We have run a campaign called "Every Drop Counts" that targets recreational boat users. This has included providing information in the form of a pamphlet (available on our website http://www.maritimenz.govt.nz/publications/pollution_prevent/EveryDropCo unts.pdf ), and also had staff attend boat shows and handing out absorbent spill pads for people to use during refueling. Spill pads were also given to marina operators to give to people with boats moored at their facility. There has been no formal evaluation of the effectiveness of the campaign, but our impression is that the oil and garbage issues are still not adequately lodged in the recreation boaties consciousness, although the issues of sewerage management now seem to be well understood. However, people love the spill pads and state that they would definitely use them (probably mostly from concern about keeping their boat clean rather than the environment, but it's a start!).

I hope this is some help.
Alison Lane

Environmental Analyst
MARITIME NEW ZEALAND DDI
+64 4 4941278
Fax +64 4 4941263
Maritime New Zealand
Level 8, gen-I Tower
109 Featherston Street
PO Box 27006 Wellington

Hi Michael,

We've been running a GardenSmart program here in North and West Vancouver, Canada since 2003. The aim of the program is to reduce the use of pesticides in lawn and garden care and to reduce the number of organics going to the landfill. We're currently beginning year five (2007) of a five year program. To give you some background, the North Shore Recycling Program is a tri-municipal agency and traditionally our role has been to administer recycling and waste reduction for West Vancouver and North Vancouver City and District. We were approached by the municipalities in 2002 to extend our role in waste reduction education to include pesticide reduction education. Initially we conducted three telephone surveys (two in 2003 and one in 2004) to examine pesticide use behaviour and attitudes among residents. The results of the 2003 surveys were summarized in a year-end report which I can send you if you're interested. We found that pesticides were most commonly used to deal with lawn maintenance issues (e.g. weed n' feed) and much of our messaging has targeted these users. Our surveys revealed that if people were willing to reduce pesticide use if they were given suggestions for alternative means of dealing with gardening problems. In 2003 and 2004 much of the funding was allocated to initial telephone survey research and the remainder (about $10,000) went towards promotion and advertising. Postcard sized "streetcards" were delivered to area businesses and via admail to targeted areas (with large lawns). The focus of the campaign was a slogan "pesticides kill weeds and bugs...who's next?". The postcard campaign was complemented by ads in the local paper, the North Shore News. We received some negative feedback from some members of advisory committees that the message was too "extreme", however we did manage to highlight the issue. In 2005 and 2006 we allocated the full $20,000 towards educationdeliverables (no $10,000 telephone surveys) so we were able to expand the program substantially. In early 2005 we conducted a focus group of male weed n' feed users and this information was used to develop a brochure "7 Steps to a Great Lawn" and accompanying advertising campaign in the local newspaper. The program was rebranded as "GardenSmart" and a website, www.gardensmart.ca , was launched. In 2005, we also began a home workshop program, "Natural Garden Parties". These workshops are a unique format in that, similar to a Tupperware party, the host is responsible for inviting guests and organizing refreshments (this can take the form of a wine & cheese, a barbeque, or just coffee & muffins). We supply a speaker on a particular topic (lawn maintenance, veggie gardening) and provide a host prize, invitations, door prizes, and handouts (brochures, etc). This program has been quite popular - last year we had 12 parties with about 170 participants. This has proven to be an excellent method of getting our message out and a similar format is now being used by the City of Seattle. We've done some evaluation and found that 50% of participants to these workshops are pesticide users, so we are definitely reaching our target market in that sense. We also have a regular workshop series at the local library but I am convinced that the less formal home parties are far more effective (and they require less staff time to administer). We're planning a follow-up telephone survey for October so I can pass the results along to you if you're interested. Feel free to contact me if you'd like more information.

Regards,
Caroline Jackson

Community Programs Coordinator
North Shore Recycling Program
148 East 2nd Street North
Vancouver, BC V7J 1Z6
t: 604.984.9730
f: 604.984.3563
e: [email protected]

Here are a few helpful sites.
http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/growgreen/
http://www.epa.gov/glnpo/ecopage/landscape/index.html
http://www.watersmart.cc/