24. The Coulee Clean-Up: A Social Marketing Program for Litter Pickup in Lethbridge, Canada

This case from Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada, details a social marketing program called The Coulee Clean-Up, initiated by the Helen Schuler Nature Centre (HSNC) to encourage litter clean-up and an anti-littering orientation. The program encourages participation in an event-style litter clean-up whereby participants form groups with colleagues, friends, and/or family to clean an assigned section of the local coulees, which are ravines around the riverbed, and surrounding hillsides during the designated clean-up period. The program offers a fun, social experience to encourage participation. It has a secondary goal of instilling long-term anti-littering behavior change by sensitizing participants to the impact of litter, enhancing anti-littering social norms, and offering social proof against littering. Business employee groups, friend groups, and families are the key target markets for the program. The program provides volunteers with all necessary supplies, a month-long window of opportunity for flexible scheduling, and a fun barbecue at the end of the clean-up period to enhance program attractiveness. The program began in 2008 and has successfully grown over the past 10 years thanks to attention to volunteer needs and long-term corporate partnerships.