Does Toronto and the GTA have a Litter Problem – a Discussion
Toronto has long been a city with an advanced approach to handling its waste and recycling potential. As Toronto has sought new ways to handle its waste, there are some who have pointed out the issue of littering within the city. While some neighborhoods see little litter, there are others where garbage is routinely put out to the side of the road, sometimes left to rot for days.
There are many reasons why littering happens in Toronto. Sometimes, there is simply no place to put one’s garbage and leaving it at the side of the road seems like a viable option. Thankfully, with city-installed garbage cans across Toronto, this has resolved most of this conundrum thankfully. As it pertains to everyday Torontonians, littering might not seem like much of an issue. Delving deeper into how some commercial enterprises and condo buildings handle their garbage though, there is an underlying culture of littering that the City has not really addressed.
See garbage bags left in alleys, overflowing garbage from bins resulting in plastic and paper blowing across the street, soiled cardboard boxes, pop cans, Tim Hortons cups, and more. There’s many things we could blame – including bans on certain items in garbage and recycling, a lack of organization from condo buildings and city developers, a poor street garbage collection schedule, and some might even say the homeless. At the end of the day, there is seemingly more Toronto could be doing to target on-street litter.
Some might advocate for banning certain products in garbage or recycling. Though this might seem like a valid idea, in practice in other cities, it has only resulted in more litter. There is already enough of that going around so a ban does not seem to have a place. What Toronto has attempted to do is to reduce garbage and to identify opportunities to recycle. The City has already done much in the form of reducing litter, taking time to educate the public on ways to dispose of certain types of garbage that cannot be recycled.
The future of Toronto and its commitment to a greener, more environmentally-friendly place might mean eliminating single-use products altogether. There’s already support behind a plastic bag ban. Imagine doing the same with coffee cups and similar items. There’s also the possibility of potentially taxing the businesses who use these items. Numerous ideas have been floated, with some still being argued on as the City aims to curb its waste output significantly within the next decade.
To answer the question of, ‘Does Toronto have a litter problem?’, it is easy to complain. The truth though is that much movement has been made in the last two decades. Many experts agree that, overall, Toronto and the GTA are a lot cleaner than it used to be, as it pertains to litter. That said, there is always room for improvement. Combatting garbage and landfill use involves addressing the ‘why’ behind littering in the city. More study is needed to determine what initiatives may be appropriate to curb littering, some having been floated including more developed waste management policies.
If you are a commercial enterprise concerned with its waste output and/or that has a littering problem it wishes to address, we would be happy to speak with you. Please contact us today for more information on how we can help curb the Toronto litter problem.
