New Haven, CT
Local Sustainability Matching Fund Proposal
Spring 2012
Purpose:
Launch social marketing and education campaign to promote sustainability through increased citizen engagement in solid waste minimization, urban agriculture and urban forestry.
Brief description of project goals, strategy, and key activities:
Sustainable New Haven is a multi-year citizen engagement campaign to mobilize New Haven residents in promoting and adopting more sustainable patterns of behavior. In its first year, the campaign will use a social marketing and education initiative to engage residents in solid waste minimization, urban agriculture and urban forestry. By developing a conscious connection between residents and their landscape through these activities, this campaign will advance important goals of the City of New Haven’s Climate Action Plan, while spreading an ethic of sustainability and the practical skills for incorporating more sustainable behavior into residents’ lives.
Specifically, Sustainable New Haven seeks to:
· Minimize municipal solid waste in New Haven by increasing residential recycling rates to 30% city-wide by 2013, piloting neighborhood-scale composting programs for organic wastes, and promoting mindful purchasing that will reduce the amount of waste generated.
· Increase citizen engagement in urban agriculture by increasing capacity by 50 – 100 utilized beds in community gardens supported by NHLT.
· Increase citizen engagement by 25% in urban forestry projects supported by URI
This project will use three strategies to accomplish these goals:
1. Implement a social media marketing strategy to promote greater resident participation in solid waste minimization, urban agriculture and urban forestry, tapping the grassroots relationships of engaged residents.
2. Offer workshops and educational seminars to teach practical skills in solid waste minimization, urban agriculture and urban forestry.
3. Build interagency cooperation to grow each partner’s capacity and grassroots base by accessing the resources and constituencies of the other partners.
Sustainability Priority Area(s):
Large Scale Behavior Change
Sustainability Marketing Campaigns
Urban Agriculture