Lesikar's Business Communication: Connecting in a Digital World 13th Edition by Kathryn Rentz,Paula Lentz

Exercise 25

As a respected businessperson in your neighborhood, you've been elected to its community council, the group that officially represents the neighborhood to the city council. Like other community councils, yours promotes the economic viability of the community and its quality of life in such ways as organizing community events, deterring crime, blocking any undesirable development projects, and raising funds to enhance the neighborhood.
At last night's council meeting you volunteered to use your persuasive writing skills to get more residents to use their recycling bins. Currently, only about 80 percent of the community recycles (the council got this figure from the city, which, thanks to microchips in each city-provided bin and cart, can keep track of the number of households that recycle in each neighborhood). The community council wants to increase that percentage, not only to help the environment and the city (which makes money by selling the recyclables it collects) but also to benefit the community; for a limited time, the council will receive $100 from the city for every 10 households it adds to their recycling total. As you think about how to persuade more of your neighbors to recycle, you consider the various reasons why they may not be recycling. Maybe there's a way the council can help remove those stumbling blocks.
But there's more: The council also wants residents to sign up for the RecycleBank Rewards Program, which rewards individuals based on how many pounds of recyclables they produce for each pickup period. When people register for the program at www.RecycleBank.com, the city will weigh how much those households are recycling and then submit that information to RecycleBank, which will award each household the appropriate reward points. The points are good for discounts at many local stores and restaurants and at such national chains as Dick's Sporting Goods, CVS Pharmacy, and Bed Bath Beyond. To get the discounts, members go to RecycleBank.com and either print the coupons they want or use the electronic versions when making online purchases. RecycleBank has been proven to dramatically increase the amount of recycling that people do, which helps keep garbage out of expensive landfills.
After creating a detailed profile of your neighborhood (real or imagined), prepare the message or messages that will help the council achieve its recycling goals.