Engagement

Don’t Trash Arizona is a joint effort between the Maricopa Association of Governments (MAG) and the Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) to address the negative impacts of freeway litter in our region. Their funding encompasses litter pickup, sweeping, and landscape maintenance, as well as litter education and prevention. With Don’t Trash Arizona, our job is to change attitudes, awareness, and most importantly, behavior, when it comes to roadway littering.

Why did they come to Off Madison Ave?

Off Madison Ave was tasked with finding creative ways to target males 18-34 (the main offenders of freeway litter) and encourage them to stop littering on Arizona’s roads.

How did Off Madison Ave tackle their challenge?

Through an annual research survey, Off Madison Ave learned that the vast majority of people who litter in the state don’t actually believe what they’re tossing out the window is trash. We recognized that first and foremost we had to educate residents on what counts as trash — and to make it clear that even small items like bottle caps and biodegradable items such as food waste add up to a big, ugly, and unsafe problem. We developed the campaign “Arizona Is Our Home” to hit the problem head on in a personal and impactful way. The idea of the campaign is that you wouldn’t litter in your home, so why would you do it on Arizona’s roads? By making the problem of freeway litter personal, the target audience is challenged to treat their environment better. Freeway billboards are simple and direct and clear — and showcase some of the most frequently littered items.

What were the results?

After the first full year of the campaign, we saw a 99% increase in travel trash bag requests on the DontTrashAZ.com website, showing an effort to change behavior. Additionally, Facebook engagements increased 115% from before the campaign started.