The Cowlitz Public Utility District No. 1 of Cowlitz County, WA felt it was time to communicate with the public regarding energy use in the home, how energy is being used and the amount of energy (and therefore money) customers might be wasting by not using energy more efficiently. To promote their free home energy audit program, Cowlitz sought the assistance of Goldstreet Designs to produce an educational booklet.

“We want to get people excited about energy efficiency in the home,” said Michelle Ehrlich, Energy Efficiency Community Relations. “Many community members are unaware that we will send an energy efficiency expert into the home to conduct an inspection, explain where energy is being wasted and point out small changes they can make that could significantly reduce their energy bills.” Goals for the booklet:

Show the average electricity usage (example: 40% space heating, 20% water heating, etc.).

List practical energy-saving tips for all areas of the home.

Explain how to cool the home without creating a big electricity bill.

Provide ideas for saving hot water.

Compare the differences in light bulbs.

Detail ways to use appliances and electronics more efficiently.

The Cowlitz team wanted the booklet to combine professional, friendly and upbeat language with strong imagery (appealing colors, pie charts, photographs, and “call-outs” to highlight important points). So, they utilized a few fun phrases such as “clean your clothes without losing your shirt.” The final page of the booklet pulls it all together with a checklist readers can use to assure their home is at maximum energy efficiency.

The booklet, “Connect to Energy Efficiency: Simple things you can do to cut energy waste and save on your electric bill,” is distributed with other materials during every home energy audit. Additionally, Cowlitz staff use it to educate walk-in customers and hand them out at community events. “People love them,” exclaimed Ms. Ehrlich. “They enjoy looking through it. They are delighted to find simple, low-to-no-cost ways to help them save energy and they love the checklist. Many customers tell us it’s exactly what they need.”

To bolster their educational efforts, Cowlitz has also introduced its Opower program. Every other month, customers receive a statement showing their actual energy usage compared to other households of similar size and offers energy-saving tips specific to their home. Concluding, Ms. Ehrlich said, “Our biggest goals right now are education and building two-way communication with our customers.”

By: Denise Rucci

 

Situation Analysis: The City of Watsonville had an entire fleet of trucks, and therefore had blank space for communication messages as the vehicles traveled around the City. They had several messages they sought to convey and had specific goals in mind. First, they wanted to reach both their English and Spanish speaking population, so each version had to be able to be translated and understood without having to change any graphics or artwork. They also wanted the story to be told by the graphic alone and also by the verbiage alone. That way, if the vehicle was moving, a viewer could capture the message whether just reading, just viewing or doing both. They didn’t have any creative concepts in mind other than to communicate their core concepts. They didn’t have a preference or requirement of using photography or not, so Goldstreet was chosen to come up with creative designs as well as work in partnership on the slogans and verbiage for each truck sticker.

Solution: After careful analysis of the six concepts presented, the design team proposed an illustrative theme that would provide bright colors, simplicity, flexibility and consistency to the campaign. Drafts were presented for a couple of concepts and once approved; the style and design were carried forward to the other messages. Once all artwork and language was approved in English, then translations were done and applied to the Spanish versions. This way, if a Spanish speaking customer saw the sign, they could still get the message through the artwork and vice versa. Street sweeping rules, recycling center information, hazardous waste disposal and general community clean up were all brought to life in a light hearted and eye catching way.

Situation Analysis: West County actively works with 3rd – 5th grade students on the education of wastewater through treatment plant tours. This program occurs annually and they were seeking a ‘takeaway’ piece for students to enjoy. The need was to create an activity booklet that complimented the tour and reiterated material covered through activities, not through reading paragraphs of educational information. Based on experience in designing other successful kids outreach materials covering FOG and stormwater, Goldstreet was selected to develop a booklet including a variety of activities appropriate for the age group and covering the content included in the plant tour.

Solution: With careful consideration for learning styles, a variety of content and different interests of kids and numerous activities were specially developed. All activities were tested by kids of appropriate ages, to ensure fun activities with content they can understand. Word search, crossword, decoder, and mad libs were designed to be fun while telling stories. Even a seek and find was included and was designed to look nothing like the general content of sinks and toilets yet all items being ‘sought’ were directly related. This activity added a different dimension and was designed to keep their attention as they move throughout the activities and the wastewater themed appearances of activities while still covering the core content of the tour. The booklet ends with the answer key allowing kids to check their work when complete or if they get stuck along the way.