Abandoned Trolleys Focus of Social Media Campaign

Good For Manly  enlisted the help of Troy the Trolley and put together a social media campaign to show that trolleys belong in the supermarket. Only. 

During a 7 day campaign on Facebook, Troy the Trolley was featured in various unusual locations, with quirky captions to gain attention. 

The focus was to highlight that trolleys are a convenience provided by supermarkets, and that it is up to users to return them, not abandon them.

And the results were terrific.  The campaign gained many fun comments and likes, and Coles management has now increased their trolley collections from 3 times to 5 times a week in Manly.  Coles also has an excellent smartphone app. called Trolley Collect which is available free from the itunes store. If you see a trolley you simply open the app.  which uses GPS to notify Coles where the trolley is  located. 

Abandoned trolleys litter our parks, beaches and creeks. And the pavement is often littered with abandoned trolleys that end up used as rubbish bins. 

Supermarkets do have appropriate technology, either coin-operated systems which encourage trolley returns, or wheel-lock systems which stop trolleys being taken out of the store in the first place. But customers don't like them, so the systems aren't much used. 

Some councils have taken Coles and Woolworths on. Both Waverley and Willoughby councils require supermarkets to prevent trolleys being taken out of their stores, and Pittwater Council is considering fining supermarkets if their trolleys are dumped.

But what if people did the right thing in the first place?