How do you get a busy mom to rescue banana peels, chicken bones and last week’s leftovers from the trash bin? How about the trendiest restaurant in town that serves hundreds of diners a night? Or the struggling “mom-n-pop” café that is facing razor thin margins and an existential crisis? These are the questions that came to mind when the City of Alhambra – like all municipalities in California – were charged with implementing a new State law mandating food waste recycling. It was going to take more than spiffy new green bins to get residents, businesses and visitors on board. The City of Alhambra saw the need to invest in a social marketing campaign that looked beyond “how” to recycle to figure out “why” people recycle. When it comes to trash, behavior change was going to take more than a new City ordinance. With research, planning and the help of a spokesworm named Compost Charlie, the City launched a robust public information campaign aimed at convincing society that one man’s trash really is a Mother Earth’s treasure.