The Communications & Collections Connection: Promoting FOG Reduction through a Branded Outreach Program

For water quality professionals, FOG (fats, oil, and grease) conjures up images of overflows, extra maintenance on pipes, and potential payouts for property damage. While some communities have grease management ordinances in place for restaurants and businesses that have helped them manage the problem, getting residents and homeowners to do their part can be a challenge. Often it is a simple as changes in their kitchen habits, but information on FOG reduction may be difficult to find on a utility's website or is listed under the Pretreatment Program where the general public would not know to look.When faced with this challenge The Gwinnett County Department of Water Resources (DWR) chose to create a branded outreach program that took a fun approach to educating the public – “Unclog the FOG.” The major component of the brand are the FOG “characters” – Fats Fiend, Oil Offender, and Grease Goblin, who make up the CLOG Mob (Creating Lots of Gunk). Their nemesis is “Secret Agent H2O” who works to keep the group at bay. This provides the narrative for the education. The cornerstone of the outreach is a content rich website, which prominently features the FOG characters, plus animation showing the problem of FOG and how individuals contribute to it, lots of photos, FAQs, ways the County is dealing with FOG and how businesses and residents can be part of the solution too, and a fun kids page with a number of activities. Combined with active community outreach and engagement, Unclog the FOG has proved to be a success for the Department.The takeaway for other utilities is the understanding of the process that goes into building a sustainable outreach program. It will also show that FOG prevention doesn't have to be buried in other utility programs, such as Industrial Pre-Treatment. It can be front and center of a program that not only helps reduce FOG but highlights the importance of maintaining the collection system and improving water quality. With a little effort, a utility can develop a fun way to educate the community it serves about FOG and help protect the assets in its system. It also offers the chance for staff to incorporate some creativity in their day to day routine.