The past year marks a significant shift in the Responsible Flushing Alliance’s approach to spreading the word on flushing smart. In previous years, we’ve driven home the importance of the “Do Not Flush” symbol in our efforts to raise awareness and educate the public. While these were essential steps, they were just the beginning of a further-reaching strategy.
This year, it was time to get down to business and create lasting impact—the only way to do that is through changing consumer behavior.
So, in 2024, we elevated our strategy— we focused on landing our message in the cultural narrative in a way that people will remember. The results speak for themselves: Our recent survey showed an increase in awareness with U.S. respondents reporting a three-point jump in familiarity with the “Do Not Flush” symbol from March 2024 (78%), before our big initiatives, to November 2024 (81%). Meanwhile, behaviors have already started to shift with our study showing a two-point decrease in respondents who admitted to flushing non-flushable items from 53% in March to 51% in November.
How did we do it? Primarily through the power of short-form video, a preferred medium among younger audiences (who will someday soon be the stewards of our environment, after all). We let young people own the message in their own way when, in partnership with the Latino Film Institute’s Youth Cinema Project, we hosted a PSA video competition among California students. Then, of course, we went big and bold with our true crime/film-noir-inspired activation at VidCon Anaheim where we welcomed content creators and their fans to follow along on the journey of solving the crimes of bad flushing. We dove head-first into the worlds of TikTok and Meta, creating fun yet informative content to engage audiences and stick our message in their minds, resulting in over 23 million total video views of our #FlushSmart content across the social platforms.
Our fresh approach has led to a breakthrough in broadcast media, with several initiatives featured on local news, among other impactful earned media placements. This is huge, considering how important local journalism is to communities across the country.
Overall, our efforts have both expanded our reach and boosted our cultural relevance, helping place smart flushing in the middle of everyday discourse—online, in schools, at the dinner table (yum!) and beyond.
We’re incredibly proud of what we’ve accomplished and are committed to building on this momentum in the years to come. Stay tuned in 2025 for more clever, innovative and impactful campaigns that aim to help protect our wastewater infrastructure for generations to come. And thanks for being a part of the journey!
Lara Wyss
President, Responsible Flushing Alliance