Project: Fats, Oil and Grease Pilot Program |
Working with the Water Resource engineering and operations team, Andrea developed and implemented a communications strategy for a pilot program to decrease sources of fats, oil and grease (FOG) entering city sewers. The pilot targeted 100 high-risk food service establishments, with the primary goals to better understand the barriers to proper FOG disposal, to educate food service establishment employees, managers, and owners on how to maintain their grease interceptors, and to prepare the sector for a new Wastewater Bylaw. Communications also targeted FOG haulers as well as plumbers to ensure best practices, consistent messaging, and to understand their unique barriers and motivations to participate in proper FOG disposal. Solutions included face-to-face conversations and education, creating Calgary.ca/fog as the first source for more information, and the development of a materials package that was available in multiple languages. Reflecting the nature of the pilot, success was measured both by the positive feedback about the program, but also by the ability to collect lessons learned, such as customer preference for printed materials. In the end, 70 per cent of participants partially or completely followed best practices and 80 per cent still used the materials during subsequent follow-up visits. (Image courtesy City of Calgary)
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