Stopping Sewer Overflows Starts with Understanding People

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A consortium of the Alachua County Environmental Protection Department, Alachua County Household Hazardous Waste Department, the City of Gainesville, and Gainesville Regional Utilities tasked Uppercase with developing a social marketing campaign to reduce sanitary sewer overflows (SSOs) caused by fats, oils, and grease (FOGs).

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Rather than jumping straight into creative development, we began with research. Through surveys and audience analysis, we sought to understand why residents dispose of FOGs the way they do, what barriers prevent proper disposal, and what benefits would motivate behavior change.

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The findings revealed a clear opportunity: younger residents were significantly more likely to pour grease down the drain or dispose of it improperly, while older residents largely understood and practiced the recommended behaviors. Agreement with statements such as, “It’s never okay to pour fats, oils and grease down the drain” increased steadily with age. And residents ages 18–25 were the least likely to use the preferred disposal method of allowing grease to cool in a container before placing it in the trash.

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These insights shaped the entire campaign strategy. Rather than broadly targeting all residents, the campaign focused much of its messaging, creative execution, and media placement on younger audiences where the greatest opportunity for behavior change existed. By grounding the campaign in audience research, the partnership was able to maximize resources, deliver more relevant messaging, and address the behaviors most likely to contribute to costly and environmentally damaging sewer overflows.