The Issue: The City of Oak Harbor was in need of assistance to meet the NPDES Phase II Western Washington Municipal Stormwater Permit Requirement S5.C.1.c which states that : “Each Permittee shall measure the understanding and adoption of the targeted behaviors for at least one target audience in at least one subject area. No later than February 2, 2016, Permittees shall use the resulting measurements to direct education and outreach resources most effectively, as well as to evaluate changes in adoption of the targeted behaviors.”

In addition, just 2 years prior, they hired a full-time Commercial Businesses Stormwater Inspector, but had been disappointed with the progress being made by the restaurants in particular, even with monthly site inspections. Basic stormwater best management practices were not being followed to the City’s satisfaction in the outdoor areas behind the restaurants, causing unknown amounts of pollution to enter local storm drains on a daily basis.

They were interested in finding an innovative way to reach restaurant staff through education and increase the use of stormwater best management practices occurring in the spaces outside of restaurants in the City.

Results: Goldstreet’s Consulting Staff and the City of Oak Harbor worked collaboratively to employ Community Based Social Marketing techniques to gain a solid understanding of the target audience in order to develop a targeted, effective and well thought out plan for inspiring a change in behavior from restaurant staff to improve water quality in the Puget Sound region.

We compiled and analyzed the data and provided a detailed summary of the findings. Background research was also explored to uncover similar projects designed to reach the target audience. The data was then used to identify motivators and barriers to reaching restaurant staff, as well as set project goals and objectives and to develop a marketing strategy. As part of the marketing strategy, we also uncovered existing grant opportunities to provide free spill kits and professional training to restaurant staff in Oak Harbor.

The marketing strategy prompted the development of three different products by Goldstreet’s Creative Design Team:

1. A multi-purpose brochure, which serves as a training tool for restaurant managers, and folds out into an eye catching, yet simple poster, targeting the restaurant staff.
2. A big and bright dumpster sticker, reminding staff how to properly maintain the dumpster area.
3. A training program designed specifically for the local high school culinary school which will focus on the proper outdoor BMPs to follow at any restaurant and the basics of how restaurants can have an impact on water quality.

Evaluation of the products was the final step and provided the City with astounding measurable results for permit reporting. Following distribution of the restaurant poster and dumpster sticker to restaurants in Oak Harbor, the following changes in behavior were observed:

• The occurrence of open dumpster lids was reduced by 76%
• The occurrence of garbage on the ground around the dumpster was reduced by 51%
• The occurrence of uncovered cardboard outdoors was reduced by 30%

The City of Monmouth came to Goldstreet Designs after experiencing confusion regarding their city leaf program. Shannon, with the City of Monmouth, expressed concern surrounding their messaging, dates, and a general understanding of the city’s leaf pickup program, which was designed to prevent debris and pollution from entering their local storm systems.

To raise awareness of the city’s leaf program, as well as educating citizens on the impact of leaves on the city’s stormwater system, Goldstreet worked with Shannon to create a full-color, tri-fold brochure detailing the leaf pickup schedule, in addition to helpful tips and information on debris and pollution prevention in local waterways, education on storm drains, and helpful tips on making the leaf program work for City of Monmouth residents.

The Goldstreet team recently caught up with Shannon regarding the overall success of the brochure and its impact on the city’s leaf program. “We believe that with the direct mailing option, more of our customers are seeing the brochure,” she stated, noting that “people are receiving it and most are reading it and putting their leaves out on the streets when and how they should be. Overall, our customers are taking responsibility and helping us keep the storm drains clear of debris, which is our ultimate goal.”

The Rockville Department of Public Works is dedicated to raising awareness surrounding pollution, and the importance of keeping dangerous chemicals out of streams. Recently Goldstreet worked with Wendy of the Public Works to create a high-end, custom poster for use in three of their community outreach programs to kick off their new inspection program.

The Goldstreet team was tasked with producing an informative infographic meant to provide at-a-glance information on the proper and improper disposal of harmful fluids and chemicals. On follow-up, Wendy reported “the posters provided clear and concise messaging that were well-received by our target audience.”

The Goldstreet Design team is dedicated to providing one of a kind services designed to meet the unique needs of our clients. We were proud to team up with Tonya of the Lake Stevens Sewer District to create full-sized, double-sided truck stickers featuring color graphics and custom messaging designed to raise awareness and provide education to the general public on the impact of flushable wipes and grease clogs in sewer pipes, as well as environmental effects.

Recently, we had the opportunity to speak with Tonya on the overall success of the program, where she noted “the response has been great! People are talking about it and we’re getting the feedback we wanted.”

The team at the Mount Pleasant Waterworks was in search of a “fresh look” for their annual drinking water consumer confidence report. After many years of using the same format, they hoped to capture the attention of their customers and gain a renewed interest in the city’s water quality.

Goldstreet was pleased to work with Jestine, of the Mount Pleasant Waterworks, to create an improved water quality report which met her goal of providing high-end design elements and a custom layout that would appeal to a wide audience of readers.

In a recent one-year follow-up survey, the Goldstreet team was happy to speak with Jestine on the overall success of the report where she expressed her satisfaction with the project, noting the final product captured what she wanted to accomplish.

Goldstreet had the privilege of working with the City of Redmond, Oregon on developing its annual water quality report. With an overall goal of maintaining compliance with state and federal requirements, the Goldstreet team created a high-quality report using custom imagery, highly-digestible formatting and copy to engage readers and educate them on the city’s water quality.

On follow-up, Goldstreet reached out to Dustan, with the City of Redmond, where he expressed his satisfaction with the process, noting that the report had “satisfied the requirement of notifying each of our customers regarding water quality.”