Despite Madison's environmentally friendly reputation, citizens rarely address or even acknowledge storm water runoff and management. As a highly concentrated urban area in close proximity to several bodies of water, sediment runoff and organic matter pollution go straight to our lakes during heavy rainfall.
Impervious surfaces such as concrete and asphalt cannot absorb rainwater, or filter out pollutants like lawn fertilizer or pet waste. And while lawns are better than these surfaces, they don't soak up as much water as deep-rooted native plants and grasses. All of this excess water runs into storm sewers and drains directly into our local waterways.
The University of Wisconsin Arboretum, which sits on Lake Wingra, has recently felt the effects of such contamination more intensely. They've taken a proactive role in protecting the land, getting some help from UW professor Bret Shaw's Life Science Communications class Public Information Campaigns."" Both undergraduate and graduate students came up with a community-based social marketing campaign and outreach plan to address specific storm water management concerns.
Working separately throughout the semester, students learned various social marketing techniques and became familiar with the UW-Arboretum and Arbor Hills Neighborhood.
""One of the biggest things this project helped to reinforce was the idea that marketing, especially social marketing, requires an intimate knowledge of the audience,"" said Erin Aagesen, a first year graduate student. ""We got an intimate look at the challenges and hopes Arbor Hills residents have surrounding the issue of storm water management. This helped us to develop creative messaging strategies that addressed residents as they are, and not just where we assumed or hoped they would be.""
Using this data and their marketing knowledge from class, each group created a unique campaign to present to UW-Arboretum supervisors on the last day of class.
""Based on quantitative and qualitative surveys we sent out to the Arbor Hills neighborhood, residents showed us they were open to resources and wanted to be educated about storm water management,"" said Marcus Landry, a senior in the class.
Each group's campaign targeted the neighborhood differently with unique slogans and icons targeting groups such as families, school-age children and environmentalists. Campaigns proposed the use of local media and community events as well as recognizing those neighbors who participated with lawn signs or bumper stickers.
""Part of the area we are working with is near the street Greenway View, so we did a little play on words with 'Go Green', which is a big theme these days,"" said Allison Landauer, also a senior. ""[We wanted] to make the ultimate change of 'Going the Greenway,' to make sure we conserve areas of the environment like the arboretum.""
Aagesen said her group's campaign had two main goals. ""First, to encourage communication and partnership between Arbor Hills and the Arboretum, and second, to improve the quality and quantity of run-off entering the Arboretum.""
The assignment's biggest idea to promote was the creation of rain gardens in yards. Rain gardens use native plants to absorb more rain than lawns alone. Another idea for conservation discussed by each group was rain barrels. Rain barrels collect rain from household gutters and can later be used to water gardens or lawns instead of a hose.
In the end, Shaw, his project assistant James Spartz and UW-Arboretum representatives determined one winning campaign from the four undergraduate groups and one from the two graduate groups. Ultimately, though, the Arboretum hopes to incorporate various elements from each proposal in their final campaign.
""What impressed me most about the student presentations was the strategic creativity in thinking through a real-world campaign,"" said Shaw. ""I hope students learned that they can create a real campaign, and that they gained a mastery over the conceptual and practical elements of doing so.""
The subsequent campaign for storm water management will be implemented in the Spring and Summer of 2009 by the Arboretum.
""From this experience, I observed that trying to change environmental behaviors is extremely challenging, but it is not impossible,"" Aagesen said. ""Most people have a genuine interest in taking action to protect the environment, especially within their neighborhood. However, it can be overwhelming for people to know where to start. By creating messages that are really simple and actionable, I think we're helping to empower people to take the first step.
