Double Content Remix: Tweeting and Talking Compost

A few weeks ago, our Communication for Climate Action class completed a content creation assignment (note: it was not posted to this blog). For that assignment, I wrote a grant proposal for the curbside collection of organic waste and a composting facility in Golden, BC. I focused on the benefits of diverting organic waste from the landfill and on examples of operational compost collection programs. The intended audience was the committee reviewing grants and I assumed that they would have a level of proficiency with technical language with regards to landfills and greenhouse gas emissions.

For this assignment, I am remixing the content from the prior assignment to reach a different audience with different accessibility needs. I’ve created two new pieces of content to help reach a broad spectrum of people.  The audience, in this case, is the general population of Golden, BC (my hometown).  Note that the reference list for both pieces of content is found at the end of this post.

Part 1

For the first piece of content, I’ve created a hypothetical Twitter campaign to convince the residents of Golden, BC to vote yes in a municipal referendum on implementing curbside collection of organic waste. For this campaign, I worked with the assumption that residents have some knowledge of the referendum via other means (ie. conversations with other residents, outreach campaigns by the town, or newspaper articles). With this in mind, I was able to craft my tweets without providing extensive background information. My idea was that these tweets would be part of a larger community conversation, and that residents would be posting their own tweets and commenting on mine, as well. I tried to add prompts to some tweets to start community conversations. I did not assume any level of expertise with regards to landfills or greenhouse gas emissions. My goal was to make the campaign accessible to the general population by using simple language and avoiding technical jargon (like using the word pollution instead of emissions or rotting instead of decomposing). I also made the tweets short in order to reduce the cognitive load necessary to process the message. The techniques listed above are introduced in Rallo et al.’s (2019) work. Although the handbook is aimed towards those practicing graphic design, the portions of the handbook that deal with text provided helpful insights into accessibility for this assignment. As per Rallo et al. (2019), communicators should “aim for clarity and economy while avoiding needless complexity” (p. 13). This is what I aimed to accomplish (and it’s worth noting that Twitter’s character limit helps with this, as well). Dupar et al. (2019) also introduced the concept of using language appropriate to your audience in their work. Additionally, I made the case to Twitter users to share the content to (hopefully) reach a wider audience, further increasing the accessibility. Lastly, because Twitter is a computer-based platform, people with sight impairments would be able to use screen readers to have the tweets read out loud to them or translated to braille. 

I put the relevant sources at the end of each Tweet to satisfy the citation requirements; however, my vision is that the citations would not appear in the Twitter campaign itself.

Twitter Campaign

30% of Golden’s landfill waste is made up of organics. We can do better with curbside organics pickup. Use #LetsCompostGolden to spread the word. (Source: Maura Walker & Associates, 2015)

Did you know that when organic matter rots in the landfill it produces methane, a potent greenhouse gas? Composting can reduce methane pollution. Composting = #ClimateAction. #LetsCompostGolden #VoteYesToCompost. (Source: City of Kamloops. n.d.)

Apple cores don’t belong in the landfill. Cast your ballot for curbside organic collection in #GoldenBC. You’ll be voting for: ↓ Reduced landfill capacity needs, ↑ More compost for farmers and gardeners, ↓ Reduced greenhouse gas pollution. (Sources: Bong et. al, 2017; Government of BC, n.d.)

Did you know that Vancouver, Squamish, and Gibsons all have curbside collection of organic waste? Let’s join them, #GoldenBC! #VoteYesToCompost #LetsCompostGolden #ClimateAction (Sources: City of Kamloops, n.d.; Town of Gibsons, n.d.)

What do banana peels have to do with the #ClimateCrisis? A lot! Composting organics instead of sending them to the landfill is a powerful way to reduce methane pollution. #VoteYesToCompost #LetsCompostGolden #ClimateAction (Source: City of Kamloops, n.d.)

Chicken bones, hardened bits of cheese, avocado pits, paper towel. These things end up in our landfill everyday, but it doesn’t have to be that way.. Cast your ballot for curbside organics collection so that EVERYONE can compost. #VoteYesToCompost #LetsCompostGolden

Attention apartment dwellers! Backyard compost may not be an option for you, but curbside organics collection is. #VoteYesToCompost #LetsCompostGolden

#LetsCompostGolden: Talk about curbside organic collection with your neighbours to get more people to #VoteYesToCompost

In Canada, methane pollution from organic waste rotting in landfills is a big problem. #GoldenBC may be a small town, but we can be part of the solution. Curbside organic collection would reduce pollution and help combat the #ClimateCrisis. (Source: Government of Canada, 2017)

Gardeners call compost ‘black gold’. What if we made our own black gold in #GoldenBC from household organic waste? Comment below ⇩ if you’d use it in your garden. #VoteYesToCompost #LetsCompostGolden

What can you do to help avert the climate crisis today? #VoteYesToCompost and tell a friend to, too. 

#ClimateAction can be wind farms, solar power, or biking to work. Did you know composting can also contribute to #ClimateAction? #VoteYesToCompost #LetsCompostGolden

⇧ composting  = ⇩ methane = ⇩ climate crisis. #VoteYesToCompost (Source: City of Kamloops. n.d.)

Part 2

For the second portion of this assignment, I have created a Google Slides document to be presented at a Town Hall-type event. This event would be part of the same campaign as above. The aim is to have residents vote yes in a municipal referendum on implementing curbside collection of organic waste. As with the Twitter campaign, the intended audience is the general population of Golden, BC. Accessibility is addressed by providing a visual presentation (Google Slides) as well as an audio presentation. Therefore, the needs of people with both hearing and sight impairments are addressed. Of course, accessibility for those with mobility challenges would need to be addressed in choosing the venue, as well. To further contribute to accessibility, I have chosen to use a large, easily readable font. Specifically, I used the Arial font, as this is rated as one of the preferred fonts by those with vision and/ or reading difficulties (Rallo et al., 2019). I chose to limit my use of text in the Google Slides presentation to reduce cognitive load, which is also in line with Rallo et al.’s (2019) design principles. In contrast to my tweets, I used some more technical language in my presentation, but I have explained any potentially confusing terms or phrases (see the speaker notes). I have tried to use more complex language only when absolutely necessary. This is based on the work of Rallo et. al. (2019) and Dupar et al. (2019). I have added photos to the presentation to increase audience engagement, based on the work of Dupar et al. (2019) and Hodson (2019). Lastly, I’ve added Alt Text to these photos, in case people with vision impairments want to access the presentation from their home computers at a later date.

Note that there are also speaker notes that go along with the presentation. Also note that citations are found in the speaker notes as well as this text. The reference list for both follows.

The Google Slides presentation can be found here.

References – for Twitter campaign and Google Slides presentation

Bong, C. P. C., Lim, L. Y., Ho, W. S., Lim, J. S., Klemeš, J. J., Towprayoon, S., Ho, C.S., & Lee, C. T. (2017). A review on the global warming potential of cleaner composting and mitigation strategies. Journal of Cleaner Production, 146, 149-157. doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2016.07.066

City of Kamloops (n.d.). Curbside organic waste collection. letstalk.kamloops.ca/organics

Dupar, M., with McNamara, L. & Pacha, M. (2019). Communicating climate change: A practitioner’s guide. Cape Town: Climate and Development Knowledge Network. https://unfccc.int/sites/default/files/resource/Communicating%20climate%20change_Insights%20from%20CDKNs%20experience.pdf

Government of BC. (n.d.). Organic waste diversion. www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/environment/waste-management/food-and-organic-waste/organic-waste-diversion

Government of Canada. (August 11, 2017). Municipal solid waste and greenhouse gases. www.canada.ca/en/environment-climate-change/services/managing-reducing-waste/municipal-solid/greenhouse-gases.html

Hodson, J. (2019). An ecological model of climate marketing: A conceptual framework for understanding climate science related attitude and behavior change. Cogent Social Sciences, 5(1), 1-15. https://doi.org/10.1080/23311886.2019.1625101

Maura Walker & Associates. (September 30, 2015). CSRD technical memorandum: Organics diversion strategy. www.csrd.bc.ca/sites/default/files/reports/CSRD%20Technical%20Memo%20Organics%20Diversion%20Strategy.pdf

Rallo, A., Forest, E., Kuo, J., Boutilier, R., & Li, E. (2019). Access Ability 2: A practical handbook on accessible graphic design. Revised + Supersized Second Edition. The Association of Registered Graphic Designers.