COUNCILLOR HUME MOVES EAB SIGNS AROUND THE WARD.
Councillor Hume and his team have just completed repositioning large Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) educational signs around the Alta Vista ward; the goal of the signs is to help guide residents to the new EAB web page put together by the Councillor.
The signs depict a large EAB beetle and say, “The EAB Could Be In Your Tree”—the tagline for Councillor Hume’s entire summer EAB educational campaign. Like the three short videos he released last week, the signs direct residents to eab.peterhume.ca, a web page put together by Hume and his team for the latest news and information about the EAB scourge.
Approximately forty signs went out into the community, strung around trees at intersections where cars and pedestrians will see them. In 3-4 weeks, the signs will be moved to other areas in the ward. Another ten signs will be placed by volunteers at and near garden centres—where people’s minds are already on their trees and plants.
The entire ‘EAB Could Be In Your Tree’ campaign was begun by Councillor Hume to augment efforts already made by his office to better educate the Alta Vista community—an area of town where ash trees are numerous and badly hit by the beetle. More public education strategies will be occurring this summer; stay tuned to the Hume Blog.
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| The Hume Team places EAB signs. |
WHY ARE WE PUTTING UP SIGNS?
The EAB signs have been placed around Alta Vista to direct residents to the newest EAB information available—all updated on our EAB web page, eab.peterhume.ca. The QR code on the beetle’s back can be scanned with a smartphone to immediately access the web page.
WHY ARE THEY IN ALTA VISTA ONLY?
This is a Peter Hume initiative. The Councillor’s residents specifically asked Peter to provide them with an EAB web page, and more public education to help people find information they may need. Other councillors may have their own strategies and approaches to communicating EAB info to their residents.
WHY IS COUNCILLOR HUME USING THE WEB, VIDEOS, AND QR CODES?
Traditional methods of spreading the information were only partially effective. In an attempt to increase how many people learn about the EAB and what can be done about it, Councillor Hume has expanded his communications strategy into new media channels.
WHY ARE THEY POSTED ON TREES THAT ARE NOT ASH TREES?
The Hume Team opted to post signs at locations that made for most effective visibility; not all these spots had ash trees available for hanging the signage. As well, trees that were marked for removal were not logical candidates for hanging a sign, as the tree might be removed and the sign with it. The signs are on City trees of all species, but placed at some of the key intersections in the area.
