Every team has its quirks. Ours just happens to involve crushed cans of Natural Ice. What started as a goofy superstition—spotting a stray “Natty,” snapping a pic, and tossing it in the recycling—turned into something bigger (and more heartfelt) than we ever expected. 

See how our “lucky charm” ended up sparking a nationwide cleanup, with more than 100 people grabbing trash bags and giving their neighborhoods a quick sweep.

The backstory

It’s safe to say that the Dscout marketing team is a fun bunch. As we hop from call to call, we like to take a few minutes to chit-chat and connect in a remote world (as hopefully most teams do!). A conversation about top beers turned into a question about one in particular, Natural Ice.

The question being, “Can you even purchase boxes or six-packs of Natural “Natty” Ice anymore? I feel like I only ever see tall boys (16 oz cans) crushed on the ground.”

This sparked an ongoing series of pictures in our team Slack. Every time someone saw the crushed beer on the ground, they would send a picture to the group (an omen of good luck) and move it to a nearby recycling bin.

Natty Ice quickly became the symbol of the marketing team. We’d send it to colleagues to celebrate achievements, bring it to company events, and even created emojis to submit in our annual emoji March Madness tournament.  

It was a great way to keep the team connected as we’re all apart. But naturally, a team of marketers wonders…how do we expand this?

The setup: Turning a media survey into a neighborhood cleanup

Picking up the occasional Natty Ice is a great way for a team of 12 to clean up our neighborhoods, but what if we encouraged 100? Luckily, we have a tool that helps us do exactly that.

We set up a media survey on Dscout and recruited 100 Scouts (Dscout vetted research participants), with an open criteria of any age in the United States. We offered recruits a quick and easy $5 to answer three prompts. 

Note: All participants chosen agreed to be a part of marketing materials.

Overview: We’re inviting you to do something simple, but impactful! Help clean up your community by picking up litter in your neighborhood. You’ll earn $5 for participating, and a few Scouts will be randomly selected to win something extra as a thank you!

Prompts to answer:

1. Open-ended: Before you get started, what are your thoughts or expectations about picking up trash in your neighborhood? Think about how you feel, why you chose to participate, or anything you expect before heading out.

2. 1-minute video: Show us a video of your cleanup in action. Record yourself collecting trash in your neighborhood. You can share where you are, what you're picking up, or how the experience is going.

3. Open-ended: After finishing, what impact—if any—did this experience have on you or your community? 

Reflect on how you felt afterward. Did anything surprise you? Did it change how you see your neighborhood or yourself?

What we assumed was going to be a pretty quick and transactional project, turned into something a lot more meaningful…

The results: Why Scouts (Dscout participants) are truly thoughtful, top-notch participants 

For a quick project with only a $5 incentive, we assumed a vast majority of responses would be “I’m doing this because picking up trash is good.”

Instead, we got very honest, thoughtful reflections on their neighborhoods and why picking up litter is important. To highlight a few we pulled together using Dscout’s Playlist Builder…

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"I live in a corner lot and it seems to gather all the trash from just cars driving by. I try to have my family go out when we work on our yard or walk our dogs and have trash picking up sessions, and when we get back home, we throw them all away. I try to teach my kids about living with nature and not just taking from it. We gotta give back in some ways. [Doing so] always gives that sense of respect with our community or at least our neighborhood."

Dylan G. (He/Him/His) | 33 | San Antonio, TX

"I don’t mind picking up trash I see around the neighborhood when me and my husband go out running or walking. We love keeping our neighborhood clutter free.

We used to carry a bag to pick up after our dogs when we would walk them. We don’t have dogs anymore, but we have a habit of just bringing trash bags when we head out for our walk or run. We do this so we can grab trash around the neighborhood."

Maria P. (She/Her/Hers) | 43 | Peoria, AZ

"It made me feel proud…I want to pull my weight and not just rely on others…If something is in my power to improve things even in a small way, I’m all for it…

It surprised me a bit that I immediately saw three big garbage items in the alley. I think I live in a pretty good neighborhood, so [I was] surprised other people didn't notice it sooner!

It did change my perspective. I want to do daily scans of the alley for 10 minutes and pick up loose items! I want to be part of the solution, not just a complainer!"

Tom O. | 29 | Niles, IL

"It’s hard to find purpose in the world right now, especially when you stick to a pretty consistent schedule. It’s nice to be able to find small and easy moments where you can actually make a difference and it doesn’t really cost you anything outside of a few minutes of your day."

Joshua P. (He/Him/His) | 44 | Apex, NC

It was a quick, 24-hour project, and participants took the time to go outside, clean up their area, and actually reflect on their experience. Some even mentioned making this a part of their usual routine. 

Though we frequently speak to the quality of our Scout pool, we are always impressed by just how thoughtful they actually are. 

To quickly highlight the overall sentiment… 

Next steps: Keep the cleanups coming (and join us!)

What started as team bonding silliness has already inspired 100+ people to spend a few minutes making their neighborhoods better—and we’re not stopping here.

To celebrate World Cleanup Day, we’re making this initiative an annual tradition.

Plus, for every comment or share on our LinkedIn post, we’ll donate $5 to Clean Trails (up to $500).

A single can or candy wrapper might not seem like much, but together, these small steps add up. Join us, and let’s keep moving the needle—one cleanup at a time.