Helping “Green” Energy Become “Clean” Energy, One Community at a Time
Photo Credit: TerraGraphics International Foundation
We believe all people have a right to live and work in a healthy environment.
Purpose Statement
TerraGraphics International Foundation
TerraGraphics International Foundation (TIFO) is a nonprofit that works with communities to improve environmental health. Their network of scientists collaborates with stakeholders in low- and middle-income countries to develop and implement sustainable solutions that mitigate public health risks without compromising residents’ ability to earn a living. Using interventions developed at the Bunker Hill contamination site in Idaho and other projects throughout the northwest United States, TIFO has partaken in environmental remediation efforts in Nigeria, Senegal, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Bangladesh, Dominican Republic, and Peru.
As a forward-looking organization, TIFO recognizes the climate crisis as an urgent and existential threat. However, many components for solar panels and rechargeable batteries are made from heavy metals. The world will demand a staggering 965% increase in lithium and a 585% increase in cobalt over the next 30 years (World Bank, 2019). As many hazardous industries have moved away from high-income countries, TIFO looks for solutions that can mitigate the risks of mining heavy metals for low-carbon technologies while still offering miners a path out of extreme poverty.
A major concern is that many American consumers lack understanding about how their decisions affect public health in communities around the world, so I worked with TIFO to develop public relations materials aimed to build awareness of these issues.
Several materials on this page were created for course credit with the Strategic Communication Master’s Program at Washington State University’s Edward R. Murrow School of Communication.
COMSTRAT 562 - Creative Media Strategies & Techniques
Professor Cara Hawkins-Jedlicka
Fall 2020
COMSTRAT 708 - Strategic Communication Capstone
Professor Rebecca L. Cooney
Fall 2021
Environmental workers replace contaminated soils in Zamfara, Nigeria.
Photo Credit: TerraGraphics International Foundation
Salient Talking Points
Open PR Writing Suite in a new window (PDF)
The first steps were crafting a message that would appeal to tech consumers and making it easy to incorporate into TIFO’s existing outreach. TIFO’s executive director and board members regularly speak at conferences about public health, so I drafted a public relations suite (PDF) with reference materials pertaining to heavy metals in low-carbon technology. The PR suite contains a TIFO profile, “one sheet” about the issue, talking points, a story pitch to northwestern media, and a search engine optimized blog post (When “Green” Isn’t “Clean,” Low-Income Mining Communities Pay the Price for Heavy Metals).
Dr. Casey Bartrem, TIFO’s Executive Director, presents several of these talking points to the Renfrew Colloquium at the University of Idaho.
One Sheet for “Helping ‘Green’ Become ‘Clean’ One Community at a Time.”
Say It with Style
Despite its network of collaborating scientists, TIFO’s capacity for public outreach is limited because it currently has a single employee. I designed this social media style guide to facilitate delegating outreach to volunteers, interns, and eventually additional staff.
The style guide contains everything a content creator might need to stay on brand when posting on behalf of TIFO. It includes an overview of the organization’s social media objectives (new audience awareness, issues awareness, engagement, and community), guidelines for profiles on each social channel, three sample audience personas, content creation standards, brand style information, conversation guidelines, and recommended updates for future iterations.
Mock Facebook Post
Web Page Mockup
Integrated Media Campaign
Up to 25% of the world’s cobalt already comes from artisanal small-scale mining, and that number is projected to increase as more cobalt is needed to produce electric vehicles and other “green” technologies (Frankel, 2016). While ASM can offer people a path out of extreme poverty, the lack of regulations can lead to severe environmental health crises. TIFO aims to raise awareness of the troubling nuances involved in ASM, and my strategy involves making connections and drawing parallels between American tech consumers and the people in low-income countries who make our lithium-ion batteries possible.
Once TIFO has the staff resources to launch a campaign about this issue, I want them to have plans and content ready to implement. I created a plan for a six-month campaign that would gradually attract and engage people who could become invested in finding solutions. The six-month window is fairly long for this type of message, but I considered the life cycle of each contact. Since the principle call to action is to learn more about the issue, oversaturation is not a concern. If somebody is exposed to too many messages, they will continue to retain the understanding that “green” technology should also be “clean” technology. However, this timeframe is also long enough for several audience cycles. Each group of uninformed people who are exposed to the campaign will see a percentage who are enthusiastic about sharing it with others.
The plan for this integrated media campaign features:
Campaign Planning
Problem statement
Preliminary research
Key statistics
SWOT analysis
Core messaging
Target audience profile
Campaign Design
Campaign Theme, Goals, and Objectives
Campaign Message Profile
Stakeholder Engagement Plan
Creative Concepts (including Facebook ads, a story pitch, and a microsite)
Campaign Timeline and Metrics