A series of eye-catching national adverts featuring celebrities will be hitting our TV screens from mid-May, as part of a major promotional package to develop the ‘are you doing your bit?’‚ campaign.

Simple but humorous messages will focus on four areas: encouraging people to think about how they can fight global warming by conserving energy, cut congestion and improve local pollution by changing their travel habits and how they can conserve water and reduce waste. The ‘are you doing your bit?’‚ campaign was piloted initially in 1998 by the DETR (Department for Environment, Transport & Regions) to show people how simple actions can help the environment. It will act as an umbrella campaign and bolster the many environmental initiatives already taking place around the country by providing a national media presence for key environmental messages. These key messages focus on transport (linked to air quality and health); climate change and energy efficiency (reinforcing the link between individual actions and global warming); water use; and packaging and waste.

This month will also see the launch of the government’s sustainable development strategy. The campaign will be used to communicate key elements of the strategy to the general public and encourage people to adopt simple and easily achievable actions in their everyday lives.

"On 17 May, I launched the Government’s Sustainable Development strategy and the next phase of the ‘are you doing your bit?’ publicity campaign.

"Sustainable development is about delivering a better quality of life, for everyone, now and for generations to come. The strategy is intended to provide a framework against which progress can be judged. It is essential that we help people understand what sustainable development is all about. The ‘are you doing your bit?’ campaign aims to get the message across, reinforcing existing action by Going for Green, the Energy Saving Trust and organisations involved in the Environmental Action Fund.

"The campaign encourages people to take everyday actions to benefit the environment. It also aims to bring together many individual environmental initiatives to maximum effect.

"I am personally committed to the campaign. Working together, we can build partnerships to champion sustainable development and encourage everyone to do their bit."

‘Are you doing your bit?’‚ aims to reinforce and complement the activities and messages of Going for Green, other partner organisations, local authorities, environmental players and business. With at least £7 million of support over each of the next three years, the campaign promises maximum exposure with a combination of national TV, radio and press advertising. There will also be a series of high profile and fun promotions linked to climate change and energy, transport, water and waste in the national media as well as a mobile exhibition, which will be visiting major towns and cities around the country.

By getting involved in ‘are you doing your bit?’, organisations will benefit from the high visibility and brand awareness of this campaign. As part of the service, ‘are you doing your bit?’‚ has also produced a toolkit for interested parties such as environmental groups, local authorities and businesses to help them promote their own campaign messages under one umbrella campaign. The toolkit will be updated regularly and supplements will be issued as the campaign develops. For more details see page 6.

Groups such as Going for Green, the Energy Saving Trust, TravelWise, Don’t Choke Britain and the Environmental Transport Association are active supporters of the campaign and will be encouraging others to reinforce the campaign messages.

We will be developing materials for organisations to use in their own campaigns. Some will be included in the toolkit and more will become available from the campaign office later in the year.

A special campaign office hotline has been set up for interested organisations to obtain further information about how they can become involved and to obtain support materials.

A packed advertising schedule runs from May 1999.

Famous faces such as top radio DJs Chris Evans and Zoe Ball, TV presenter Judith Chalmers and weatherman Ian McCaskill along with stand-up comic Eddie Izzard, ex-racing drivers Nigel Mansell and Jackie Stewart and boxer Chris Eubank will be fronting a series of national TV and radio ads.

The ad treatments have been designed to enthuse and amuse all age groups.

Reflecting the campaign’s focus on the four environmental areas, audiences will see how simple actions, such as car sharing, switching lights off, recycling waste and fixing dripping taps can all have an impact.

In the first year of the campaign, three major bursts of national TV ads are planned.

There will also be adverts airing on regional radio stations. National newspapers and women’s press will be running print adverts and one hundred 48-sheet poster sites and three-hundred bus side ads in key cities around the country will give the campaign a high visibility. The towns which will see ‘are you doing your bit?’‚ on their buses include London, Birmingham and Manchester.

Going for Green’s Water Theme Month in May launches a countrywide campaign at a national and regional level. Going for Green has produced a Water Charter, and a series of national and local activities, which in many cases are organised by local water companies, will take place throughout the month.

‘Are you doing your bit?’ will be reinforcing water conservation messages and water companies’ existing free services. A free Water Hog will be offered to millions of households via a national promotion. This free watersaving device fits into the lavatory cistern, and literally ‘hogs water’. The Water Hog incorporates a friendly cartoon character, and is sure to prove popular with children and adults alike.

Businesses will also be encouraged to become involved in ‘are you doing your bit?’‚ and promote water conservation by installing the ‘hogs‚ or other water saving devices, in their own buildings.

To demonstrate how much water is used when a toilet is flushed, ‘are you doing your bit?’ is conducting a light-hearted survey into the nation’s ‘toilet habits’. Both national and regional data will be collected to promote watersaving habits and encourage people to install a hog‚ in their own home or office.

As well as providing some fun and memorable results, which will help to grab attention for the issue, the research has a serious side. It will help highlight how much water we use when flushing the toilet and how much we could conserve by using a water saving device. And did you ever want to know how northerners differ from southerners in their habits? Results will also be segmented into regions.

The results of this research will be published and launched through the media in late May.

Two further national promotions from ‘are you doing your bit?’ will help promote the links between energy use in the home and climate change, and cutting down on waste.

Building links with the Energy Saving Trust’s ‘Energy Efficiency’ campaign, a humorous week-long promotion is planned on breakfast television, highlighting the variety of simple ways in which energy can be used more efficiently around the home.

Later this year, ‘are you doing your bit?’ will focus on waste reduction, to help support a variety of activities such as the National Waste Awareness initiative. Consumers will be shown easy ways to reduce, recycle and re-use their waste and be encouraged to buy recycled products.

Transport issues are front-page news in 1999, following the publication of last year’s White Paper, ‘A New Deal for Transport’, and the commitment to related issues such as air quality and health.

Watch out for Transport Awareness Month in June. Spearheaded by Travelwise, Don’t Choke Britain and many other organisations and supported by ministers such as Glenda Jackson MP, there will be a series of national and local events designed to focus the public’s attention on the need to ‘travel sensibly’.

Each year, activities include Walk to School Day and Car Free Day, where people are encouraged to leave their car at home and use public transport, cycle, walk, share a car or travel outside the rush hour. Everyone can get involved. By showing people how they can make small changes to their travel patterns, the ultimate aim is to reduce pollution and achieve less traffic congestion.

This year, ‘are you doing your bit?’‚ will help support and endorse this busy month with a series of advertisements across the country. Through June and July, five radio stations around the country will be running special ‘are you doing your bit?’‚ features to support the transport messages also being promoted by Don’t Choke Britain and Travelwise. Consideration is being given to running similar promotions in September, to remind parents to share their cars for the school run.

‘Are you doing your bit’ will be taking its messages into the heart of local communities when its Do Your Bit Exhibition hits the road in August, September and October.

Visiting up to 20 towns around the country, the fun, interactive exhibition is designed for people of all age groups, particularly shoppers and children, to increase their familiarity with the simple actions which can make a difference. With a combination of computerised, interactive displays as well as illuminated working models, the show will demonstrate the variety of ways in which everyone can do their bit in the four areas of the campaign.

Stopping at shopping centres, supermarket sites and other high visibility locations, the exhibition’s presence in major centres will also help maximise the effect of the advertising and promotions campaign. Pre-publicity for the mobile exhibition will be an important element in its success and working with regional media, we want to create publicity and a sense of excitement about the imminent arrival of ‘are you doing your bit?’‚ in each location.

Most of all, we want to work with you to get the most out of the mobile promotion.

The exhibition will provide local ‘partner’ groups with a platform from which to raise the profile of their own activities and messages, and to become involved in the "are you doing your bit?’’ campaign.

A list of locations will soon be available, and local organisations or businesses that would like to participate in the Do Your Bit roadshow should contact the ‘are you doing your bit?’‚ campaign office.

You can get involved in the campaign with actions as simple as incorporating the ‘are you doing your bit?’‚ logo onto your campaign literature. Alternatively, you might want to persuade local business contacts to agree a green transport plan for employees.

Interested organisations should contact the ‘are you doing your bit?’ campaign office to find out more.

Containing support material for organisations, the Partner Toolkit includes information and ideas about how to become involved, campaign information, tips on effective ways to motivate the public, information on a selection of forthcoming partner and ‘are you doing your bit?’ events, facts and figures and promotional items. Guidelines on how participating organisations are free to use the ‘are you doing your bit?’ logo on their own material are also contained within the Toolkit.

The ‘are you doing your bit?’‚ mobile exhibition (hitting the road from August onwards) is just one way that local organisations can become involved in your region. More details are available later in this newsletter.

Some of the organisations which are currently supporting the campaign include: Don’t Choke Britain, the Energy Saving Trust, Going for Green, TravelWise and WasteWatch. In addition, many companies are signing up their support such as Bayer plc, Bosch, British Airways, Dixons, Esso, First Group plc, Severn Trent Water, Southern Water, Thames Water, Triton Showers and Vauxhall Motors.

The general public will be able to call a special hotline number for more information about how to do their bit for the environment.

As part of the campaign to encourage people to take everyday actions to help the environment, a top tips ‘are you doing your bit?’ consumer leaflet has been produced. Copies can be obtained by calling the hotline number listed above. Alternatively, visit our official ‘are you doing your bit?’ website at www.doingyourbit.org.uk from which the general public can download useful information about how to do their bit. www.doingyourbit.org.uk

In October last year, Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott invited businesses to ‘do their bit’ for the environment and many have already pledged their support. Forming partnerships with the ‘are you doing your bit?’ campaign provides an excellent opportunity for companies and their employees to take up this challenge. Under the campaign umbrella, you can encourage local businesses to turn down their thermostats, establish their own car-sharing schemes or watch their waste.

Posters, leaflets and editorial features are available to help businesses communicate the campaign messages.

An important focus for the campaign is the local community and sponsorship support is also welcomed from businesses that want to become involved in this major environmental initiative. Whether in the form of funding for a specific activity, or by providing prizes for national and local media competitions, a link with ‘are you doing your bit?’ will help to enhance a business’s environmental initiatives and provide maximum exposure through the promotions that are planned.

Commercial organisations wanting to find out more about sponsorship opportunities should contact Alex

Diamond at the Central Office of

or by email: adiamond@coi.gov.uk.