Air Victoria, Texas
Something exciting is in the air in Victoria, Texas.
Lawn mowers across the region are resting noiselessly until after 5 p.m., drivers are stopping at the click when they refuel their cars, and increasing numbers of people are hopping on the bus or sharing a ride when ozone levels peak.
That's because the citizens of Victoria know that these actions are all adding up to cleaner air for their region.
Air Victoria, an air quality partner who uses It All Adds Up to Cleaner Air resources, is changing the way people think and act when it comes to air quality. "This is the best year we've had," said Joni Brown, air quality program coordinator for the Victoria region.
Simple Steps Make Sense
Air Victoria's approach to public education on air quality is unique because it does not invoke any ordinances or laws but instead relies on voluntary support and cooperation. Victoria residents can't help but notice It All Adds Up messages wherever they go—on billboards, at gas stations, across the radio waves, in classrooms, and when they open their mail or sit down to watch television.
"I hear people say all the time, 'I knew today was going to be an ozone day so I gassed up last night,'" Joni said, noting how thrilled she was to find free It All Adds Up marketing resources.
Joni reached out to local radio stations who agreed to air pre-recorded and live-read spring season It All Adds Up radio ads. In October, a public education survey sent with Victoria residents' utility bills showed that 86% of respondents had read or heard an air quality message during Victoria's ozone season. Among that group, an impressive 95% said they now engage in ozone-prevention behaviors.
Joni noted, "I even got an e-mail from a citizen saying she now stops at the click!"
That citizen is Holly Pickering. When she and husband Chris refuel their vehicles, they stop pumping as soon as they hear the gas nozzle click. But it wasn't until recently, after the couple repeatedly saw It All Adds Up "Stop at the Click" messages fixed on gas pumps that they picked up the habit.
"We didn't know the importance of stopping at the click until this public education campaign started," Holly admitted. "My husband gets kind of tickled every time we fill up! It's very empowering to take charge that way."
Customize the Message
Air Victoria also made their own version of the It All Adds Up "Alternate Choices" television ad. The original video begins with a few seconds of train footage, but Victoria doesn't have a passenger train. Joni worked with a production crew at the local television network to replace the train footage with images of people boarding a bus in Victoria. The commercial is getting a lot of attention and generates a lot of discussion. "I hear more compliments about the alternate choices TV ad than any other we've done so far," Joni said.
Lisa Cortinas, director of transportation services in Victoria, said the alternate choices messages are undeniably influential. "We've definitely noticed an increase in ridership, especially on ozone alert days," said Lisa, who is also a member of the Air Victoria advisory panel. "We have seen a 24% increase in bus trips from last year and we think a portion of that increase is due to the Air Victoria campaign."
Target the Audience
An annual lawn equipment exchange encourages residents to exchange a working, gas-powered lawn mower for a new, discounted electric model at a designated home improvement store. Exchanges this year increased 100%.
A local television network covering the lawn mower exchange interviewed a woman whose grandchildren suffer from asthma. She was moved to take action after seeing on the Spanish-language channel several Air Victoria ads warning about the health dangers of ozone and then seeing ads for the lawn mower exchange. "She had seen our health messages and the call to action and made the connection," Joni said. "We couldn't have asked for a better spokesperson!"
Unlike the English-language ads, which receive most exposure when aired during the morning and evening news, the Spanish-language ads appear during daytime Novella drama programs popular among the Hispanic community, a group that accounts for 40% of the population in Victoria.
The It All Adds Up initiative also created billboards in both English and Spanish (see the billboards) that focus on trip chaining, alternate transportation choices, and vehicle maintenance.
Two Brains are Better than One
Joni frequently turns to others for support and ideas: Jerry James, director of Environmental Services and legislative liaison for Air Victoria; Ray Miller, assistant director of planning for the area's metropolitan planning organization; and Chris Jones, a part-time research assistant for Air Victoria. But when some colleagues suggested hiring a public relations or marketing firm to come up with air quality messages, Joni pointed to italladdsup.gov and said, "There's no point in creating these resources when the Federal Highway Administration has already done it."
Joni also depends on the It All Adds Up Exchange for inspiration and advice. "The Exchange is so valuable," she said. "I get so many ideas from it." Impressed with the good results achieved by Miami-Dade County using the It All Adds Up tagline and clean air messages on bumper stickers, Joni decided to adapt them for Victoria County. She created three versions: one for 
the city's light duty, fuel-efficient trucks (PDF, 64KB); one for refuse vehicles (PDF, 90KB); and another for consumer-purchased hybrid vehicles (PDF, 43KB). Each bumper sticker bears the It All Adds Up logo and an appropriate message, such as "I'm a fuel efficient retrofit truck." Joni contacted city authorities to have the stickers placed on all retrofitted city vehicles. She also met with managers at local Honda and Toyota dealerships who agreed to distribute the stickers to every customer purchasing a hybrid.
Health Partners Will Increase the Reach
Using Clean Air Act funding through the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality's Rider 8, Joni worked with the American Lung Association to develop a brochure (PDF, 1008KB) , for distribution to doctor's offices, to educate the public about the link between ozone and respiratory illness. "We printed out a few of our favorite air quality web pages to get ideas for the text—It All Adds Up language got circled a lot," Joni said.
A PowerPoint presentation about ozone-related illness featuring the It All Adds Up tagline was also presented to physicians who treat high-risk groups, including the elderly, children, and individuals with respiratory illnesses. A dinner event sponsored by a pharmaceutical company and featuring Joni as the main speaker is also in the planning stages.
Booking time with busy physicians and medical directors was a difficult, time-consuming task—but Joni was up to it. She held seminars for hospital employees, community health groups, and health advocates until the message filtered up, and she made a contact with the chief pulmonary physician at a local hospital. "Now the doctors want to meet with me!" Joni said.
"If you can get these simple messages out, you'll see that it works," Joni asserted. "Education changes behavior."
For more information on Air Victoria-Keep It Clean, contact Joni Brown at (361) 485-3235 or JBrown@victoriatx.org , or visit the Air Victoria-Keep it Clean Web site.