Curelitter

Top 4 reasons why we need to care about litter

Some litter is unintentional, such as wind blowing items around and, unfortunately, some is intentional, such as when someone drops items on the ground or throws litter out of their vehicle.     

Why we need to care about litter:   

1. Litter destroys the beauty of the community.
2. Litter encourages more litter. One piece of litter on the ground can incite more litter.
3. Every year, millions of birds, fish and animals die from ingesting litter.
4. Litter is damaging to plant life. Litter can harm or stunt plant growth.

Get Involved: Find litter events and contacts for litter cleanups

This year, some local municipalities are organizing events, others are not. Please see the information below.

If you are interested in having your own individual litter cleanup, please check with your local municipality. If a cleanup is possible, discuss and confirm:

1. Instructions and other information
2. Litter cleanup supplies
3. Pre-arrange collection of all the litter cleanup debris. For example, do not leave garbage bags of collected litter in parks or on trails without pre-arranging municipal collection. Note: Garbage bags of collected litter placed out for curbside garbage collection count as part of the household's garbage limit. 

Local municipal contacts

• City of Cambridge: All community cleanups are cancelled due to the pandemic. Residents can still their part to keep our city clean and safe. When enjoying our parks and trails, please take any waste, such as masks and gloves, and dog waste home with you to dispose of properly. For more information, visit Cambridge City Green or email City Green.
• City of Kitchener: Visit Love My Hood - Neighbourhood Greening program.
• City of Waterloo: View their Environment web page for community litter programs and annual environmental events.
• North Dumfries Township: For information, please contact Recreation and Community Services at 519-632-8800 ext. 102.
• Wellesley Township: For information, please call Wellesley Township at 519-699-4540.
• Woolwich Township: Please check with the Township office for details at 519-514-7027.

Region of Waterloo's Adopt-a-Road program

Cleanup along roads are cancelled due to the pandemic. For more information, go to our Roads and Traffic page.

Ontario's Day of Action on Litter

The Province of Ontario's first Day of Action on Litter scheduled for May 11, 2021 has been postponed due to COVID-19. Please see Act on Litter for details.  

Litter promotion material for your use

Logo:  Feel free to use our litter logo but you must use just the litter message, you cannot add your name or any identifier to it. Download the logos: 

title 1		title 2
The only cure for litter logo - stacked.		The only cure for litter logo - horizontal.
Posters: Download from our series of anti-litter posters called You litter, people notice. To keep the litter message fresh, change up the posters using the many kinds of litterers: the Flicker, the Foul Shooter, the Wedger, the Incher or the Undertaker. And the general poster, You litter, people notice.
Download the FLICKER	Download the FOUL SHOOTER	Download the UNDERTAKER	Download the WEDGER	Download the INCHER
Download the You litter? People notice.
Exterior signs: Order an exterior sign for your municipality, commercial, industrial or institutional facility. Email for more details.
	24 x 24 inch sign $40		17 x 11 inch sign $20

Sign Requirements: It is your responsibility to install and maintain the signs. Sign locations have to be in an area you have authority over; not block the vision triangle; and, follow local signage By-laws.

Flyer:  Tips to prevent litter if you are setting out your blue box on a windy day.

History of the Litter Reduction Task Force

The Litter Reduction Task Force was a joint committee created in 2003, involving active members from local municipalities, educational institutions,  as well as the Ministry of Transportation. The goal for the task force was to create litter awareness initiatives and campaigns, to develop consistent by-law enforcement roles and responsibilities that spanned across all municipalities, and to encourage community engagement in litter initiatives such as the Cash for Trash litter contest and community litter cleanup events.

This committee developed the anti-litter message: 'The only cure for Litter is you'.  The strength of this message is the clean, crisp anti-litter call-to-action. A conscience decision was made to not put sponsor identifiers in the message in order to keep the message tightly focused on litter and to share the message freely with others involved in anti-litter promotion.

The success of this joint committee can be easy seen across Waterloo Region. The litter message can be observed on roadways, buses, exterior signage on public buildings, in parks and trails, on vehicles and education institutions. The message has been used in radio commercials, posters are visible in schools and public sector buildings. The Cash-for-Trash anti-litter contest engaged several hundred of local residents at a lively Region Council meeting.

The committee has been inactive for several years, however, the Region continues to carry on with litter messaging, activities and support local municipalities in their litter clean-up activities.

Litter facts

The average distance someone will carry garbage before littering is 12 paces. 

Most litter occurs within five meters of a garbage receptacle.

The most common items found in cleanups across Canada: Cigarette butts, food wrappers, paper material, plastic bags, plastic drink bottles, pop cans, straws, Styrofoam, miscellaneous packaging, microplastics.  Source: Shoreline Cleanup

How long does litter take to breakdown?

• Cigarette butt: 5 -10 years. On the ground, these will leach toxins like arsenic and lead.
• Disposable diaper: 500 years
• Food can, steel: 50 years (can be recycled in 10 -14 weeks)
• Glass drink bottle:  1 million years (can be recycled)
• Gloves, latex: 1- 3 years to breakdown, another 30 years to decompose.
• Juice box, plastic-coated paper: 5 years (can be recycled in 4-6 weeks)
• Orange peel: 6 months
• Plastic bag:  500-1,000 years (can be recycled in 8 weeks)
• Plastic drink bottle: 1 million years (can be recycled in 8-10 weeks)
• Pop can: 80-100 years (can be recycled in 6 weeks)
• Ring can holder, plastic: 450 years
• Straw, plastic:  200 years
• Styrofoam cup or tray: 500+ years
• Tire: 2,000 years
• Wet wipe: 100 years

Almost every plastic item we have made since the 1950s is still in our environment.[1]

Does litter travel? It is estimated that almost 10,000 metric tonnes of plastic waste enters our lakes and rivers each year from Canada and the United States.[2]  Most litter comes from land sources such as windblown litter left on the ground, litter carried down rivers into the lakes, from sewer pipes carrying litter from streets, and beachside litter. 

Most food and drink packaging will not breakdown in our lifetime and can be harmful to marine wildlife. Larger pieces of plastic like pop bottles break down into tiny pieces of microplastics (5 mm or less in size). Styrofoam also breaks down into small pieces that float.  The microplastics and small pieces of Styrofoam float in the water and are often mistaken as food by wildlife. 

Water bottles: You are the cure for litter! Be sure to carry a refillable water bottle. Find free locations to refill your bottle at Bluew.

Did you know:

• To make bottled water, it takes 2,000 times more energy than it does to produce  tap water.  Also, it takes three times the water to make the bottle as it does to fill it!
• Cost for you to refill a 500 ml reusable bottle with our wonderful Region of Waterloo tap water:  .0025.   That is correct:  .0025 of one cent!

 ¹www.ontario.ca/page/provincial-day-action-litter

 ²www.ontario.ca/page/provincial-day-action-litter