Kim Braun, Manager, Resource Recovery & Recycling Division, City of Santa Monica, CA

Did you ever go to a festival and see many of the wide-eyed children lined up to look at the shiny gadgets, or hear the screech of the siren on the fire truck that was there for the event? Taking inspiration from this, The City of Santa Monica's Resource Recovery & Recycling Division (RRR) established a program to tap into some of that childhood amazement by letting the community up close and personal with an automated side loader trash truck.

In 2010, RRR participated in the Santa Monica Festival by allowing children to operate the remote collection arm of the trash vehicle. The event became a huge draw with parents and children lined up waiting for their turn, some repeating the experience three and four times that day.

As a result of that positive experience, RRR has developed numerous marketing and outreach tools, all utilizing the trash truck. By participating in this webinar, participants will learn how to reach out to the residential community with environmental and event-themed messages, as well as learn how to rent trash trucks for birthday parties, block parties, school fairs and other community events. Also, RRR will provide information during the webinar about the placement of local and international business advertisements on the truck panels. Other outreach programs such as Curby the Recycling Robot, Curby's Blog, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages and our newest item, the Outreach Trailer, will be discussed at this informative and lively webinar.