Behavior Change

For the behavior change portion of the Permit, the City chose to be a part of the Regional Dumpster Lid Campaign addressing the BMP of Dumpster and Trash Compactor Maintenance and the target audience of Commercial Businesses.  The strategy and schedule for the new Dumpster Lid behavior change campaign was completed on February 1st, 2021.  The new behavior change strategy began April 1st, 2021.  The evaluation report summarizing the changes in understanding the adoption of the targeted behavior and explanation of changes to the campaign was completed in March 2024.  A summary of the regional pilot campaign and findings from the local campaign strategy outlined in the final evaluation report are provided below. 

Previous efforts by the City of Tacoma to promote keeping dumpster lids closed and overall dumpster maintenance involved the distribution of stickers for application on the front of dumpsters. Evaluation of this initial campaign conducted between 2018 and 2020, showed a need for more visual indicators (signs) to increase awareness and promote the closing of dumpster lids at commercial businesses, particularly food service establishments.  Often these establishments experience a high rate of staff turnover so if educational materials do not remain on the property or in the area of dumpster use, that knowledge is lost.

In 2021, the City of Tacoma (City) participated in the Dumpster Lid Pilot Campaign (pilot). This 6-month initiative aimed to assess the efficacy of a social marketing strategy developed during the 2020 Dumpster Summit, which identified open dumpster lids as a pervasive issue impacting Puget Sound. For details regarding the pilot and Dumpster Summit, please visit the Washington Stormwater Center’s Dumpster Outreach Group Webpage.

 During the 2021 pilot, more than 30 local jurisdictions engaged nearly 150 businesses, urging them to close dumpster lids. Businesses received educational materials and tools from the jurisdictions’ outreach toolkit. Each jurisdiction exercised discretion in selecting tools, such as pledge forms and window clings; however, all participating jurisdictions affixed stickers to dumpsters and, where feasible, placed signage in the dumpster vicinity and near exterior doors within businesses' interiors. These materials provided additional visible resources reminding users to close dumpster lids to prevent stormwater intrusion, minimize odors, and deter animals (e.g., rats). Over 100 dumpsters underwent evaluation. Before the pilot, 49% of businesses maintained closed dumpster lids. Following the 6-month pilot, this figure rose to 77% of businesses. 

Based on the information learned from the 2018 and the regional pilot campaigns, Tacoma chose to evaluate the effectiveness of adding additional signs in and around the area of dumpster use in combination with the existing stickers located on the front of the dumpster.  For this effort, Tacoma staff continued observations at the 3 businesses chosen for the pilot campaign.  Site visits were conducted between April 2021 and December 2023. Two of the businesses selected were food service establishments and one retail auto parts store.  Each business was visited, and management was engaged by Tacoma staff at the start of the campaign, to discuss the goal of the campaign and install signs and stickers.  Over the course of the evaluation period, a total of 54 site visits were made to each business to record the status of dumpster lids being either open or closed. In 2022 a survey of 43 dumpsters at commercial businesses around Tacoma (some with 2018 stickers, some without) was performed for comparison to businesses with additional visual reminders (signs posted in the area of dumpster use).

Based on the findings from this local campaign, additional visual aids (signs) were ineffective in increasing the desired behavior of closing dumpster lids after each use. However, dumpsters with stickers, when compared to those without, had a greater likelihood of having closed dumpster lids at the time of observation. The City of Tacoma will not continue to place additional signs but will work with Solid Waste to continue the placement of stickers on new dumpsters before they are deployed.  Tacoma will use the sticker design from the 2018 campaign; however, the sticker will be updated to a larger format and include information on TacomaFirst 311, Tacoma’s spill and pollution reporting hotline, and a QR code linked to Tacoma’s Solid Waste website.  A second, Spanish translated, version will be applied to each dumpster as well.