The only cure for Litter is you. Litter is an community challenge and it takes a community to overcome it. The Region of Waterloo partners with local municipalities, education institutions, Adopt-A-Road and the Ministry of Transportation of Ontario (MTO) to promote waste reduction and litter prevention across the region.
Litter cleanup events are cancelled until further notice. The cancellations are in keeping with the Region of Waterloo Public Health directive for physical distancing to help prevent the spread of COVID-19. We will update this site as soon as more information becomes available.
Litter cleanups are not encouraged during the COVID-19 outbreak. Should residents opt to do their own individual litter cleanup, please be aware there are no special litter pickups or drop offs for the collected debris, please do not leave garbage bags in parks or on trails. Garbage bags of collected litter could be placed out for residential garbage collection and would count as part of the household's bag limit.
How does litter get there: Some 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:
- Litter destroys the beauty of the community.
- Litter encourages more litter. One piece of litter on the ground encourages more litter.
- Every year, millions of birds, fish and animals die from ingesting litter.
- Litter is damaging to plant life. Litter can harm or stunt plant growth.
To report a litter issue, please call the Region of Waterloo's 24-hour Customer Service Call Centre at 519-575-4400.
For more litter information, email us.
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Litter cleanups are not encouraged during the COVID-19 outbreak. Should residents decide to do their own individual litter cleanup, please be aware that there are no special litter pick-ups or drop-offs for collected debris. Please do not leave garbage bags of collected litter in parks or on trails. Garbage bags of collected litter could be placed out for residential garbage collection and would count as part of the household's bag limit. The Province of Ontario's first Day of Action on Litter scheduled for May 12 was postponed due to COVID-19. Please see their site ActONlitter for details. We may not be able to join an event, but we can think about how we can help to reduce the harmful impacts of waste in the environment. We can prevent, reduce and divert waste in our homes so it doesn't become litter!
City of Cambridge Cleanups are cancelled. For more information, visit Cambridge City Green or email City Green. City of Kitchener Cleanups are cancelled. For more details, go to Love My Hood. City of Waterloo Cleanups are cancelled. For more details, visit City of Waterloo, call 519-886-2310 ext. 30296 or email City of Waterloo Stewardship. North Dumfries Township For information, please contact Michelle Poissant, Recreation and Community Services Coordinator or 519-632-8800 ext. 102. Wellesley Township For information, please contact Keven Beggs at Wellesley Township.
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| Litter promotion material for your use | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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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:
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.
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| Litter facts |
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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?
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:
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