Small Actions. Cleaner City.

01 Project overview

Encouraging Everyday Ownership of Shared Public Spaces

Litter is one of the most visible quality-of-life issues in a dense city, and one of the few that every resident can influence directly. The decision to use a bin, carry a wrapper another block or sort recyclables correctly is small, repeated thousands of times a day across a neighborhood.

Small Actions. Cleaner City. is an integrated public awareness campaign concept developed by PR Brand Marketing to demonstrate how clear, behavior-focused messaging and relatable New York City imagery can encourage residents to dispose of litter responsibly and take greater ownership of their neighborhoods.

Built around the message “A cleaner neighborhood starts with us,” the campaign connects one direct call to action, “Put litter where it belongs,” across outdoor advertising, digital display, social media creative and a campaign landing page.

The creative concept illustrates how a municipal sanitation or environmental agency could present a familiar message in a way that feels local, positive and immediately actionable.

02 The communications challenge

Turning a Familiar Message Into a Visible Habit

Residents have heard “don’t litter” for decades. The challenge for a modern sanitation campaign is not awareness of the rule but motivation: making responsible disposal feel like a shared neighborhood value rather than an instruction from an agency.

For this independent concept, PR Brand Marketing developed a fictional communications brief focused on three challenges:

• Relevance: Show streets, bins, storefronts and sidewalks that residents recognize as their own, so the message reads as “our block,” not a generic city.
• Behavior: Move from a general appeal to one specific, repeatable action that can be shown in a single image: putting litter where it belongs.
• Consistency: Carry the same message through bus shelters, digital placements and social feeds so it is encountered repeatedly in the course of a normal day.

The creative challenge was to communicate a civic responsibility without shaming residents or relying on images of neglect alone.

03 Our creative strategy

Before-and-After Storytelling. Recognizable Streets. Direct Calls to Action.

PR Brand Marketing developed a positive, behavior-focused campaign concept that shows the difference everyday decisions make rather than describing it.

The creative strategy is built around four principles.

• Show the Difference. “Same Block. Different Choices.” Before-and-after storytelling presents the same sidewalk littered and clean, so the benefit of a small action is visible at a glance. The before-and-after panels are conceptual illustrations, not photographs of an actual cleanup.
• Recognizable Urban Environments. Brownstone stoops, corner bins, storefronts and crosswalks root the campaign in everyday New York City neighborhoods.
• People Doing the Right Thing. The campaign shows residents in the act of using a bin, modeling the behavior it asks for instead of only showing the problem.
• One Action, Repeated Everywhere. A single call to action, “Put litter where it belongs,” anchors every format so the campaign builds recognition across channels.

04 The campaign identity

Primary campaign headline

Small Actions. Cleaner City.

Campaign message

A Cleaner Neighborhood Starts With Us.

Primary call to action

Put litter where it belongs.

Supporting lines

Same Block. Different Choices. · Your Block. Your Choice.

Landing page action

Learn How To Help

Visual identity

The campaign uses a palette of deep teal and navy, bright orange and clean white. Teal and navy carry the headline and create a calm, civic tone; orange highlights the call to action, the landing page button and the campaign’s bins so the requested behavior stands out in every frame.

Bold, condensed uppercase typography gives the headline the presence of outdoor advertising, while a lighter sans-serif carries the supporting message. Illustrated street scenes in a consistent style connect each deliverable, and every piece carries an independent-concept footer.