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San Francisco Environment Department touts Cantonese-centered composting outreach in Chinatown
Summary
The Department of the Environment presented a Chinatown-focused outreach pilot that paired door-to-door visits, Cantonese messaging and business trainings to increase composting and recycling participation among more than 100 local businesses.
The San Francisco Department of the Environment told the Commission on the Environment on Jan. 27 that a Chinatown pilot campaign built "with the culture and language first," rather than by translating English materials, increased business participation in composting and recycling programs.
Nicole Wu, an outreach associate with the department, described outreach that included business visits, free trainings and an incentive decal offered to participating businesses. "We spoke with the business in Chinatown, and also [offered] a free training to increase participation in those program[s]," Wu said, adding that the team provided Cantonese-language messages and reinforced them with posters and billboards using the campaign theme "turn food into gold." Wu repeated the outreach message in Cantonese for the Commission.
Department staff said the campaign reached over 100 businesses, combined door-to-door outreach with bus-shelter advertising, and used culturally resonant copy and imagery. Donald Oliveira, the department's public outreach program manager, told commissioners the effort "was really focused on the residents and businesses of Chinatown" and was designed from the community out.
Commissioners praised the approach. Vice President Angelo King said outreach delivered with "positive energy" and cultural competence will help secure engagement from business owners; Commissioner Heather Stevenson said starting "from the culture and the language itself" is more effective than direct translation.
The presentation included translations of the campaign's Cantonese slogans; staff explained one poster concept as a way to connect food scraps to new growth, summarized informally as "today's food scraps can turn into gold." The department offered to share a follow-up report with the Commission.
The Commission did not take action on the presentation; members reserved questions until the end of the briefing and closed public comment after the staff report.
