A CRIME OF LAZINESS
Canadians got a C last year in environmental performance because we produce so much trash, write Marc and Craig Kielburger.
A little-known fact: The average Canadian litterbug walks 12 steps in search of a garbage can before giving up and dropping the trash on the ground. Yes, it appears our litterbugs are a lazy lot.
Cigarette butts are the most common type of litter in Canada. Last year, volunteers for WWF Canada’s Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup picked up 353,941 of them along waterways alone. And according to curelitter.ca, Canadians drop 8,000 tonnes of cigarette butts each year — the majority within a mere 10 feet of an ashtray. It takes 10 years for a cigarette filter to break down.
We don’t want to only spotlight smokers — most of us don’t light up. But what about our food wrappers, containers, beverage bottles and plastic bags? They also make up a majority of litter.
We’re a nation that can’t put a lid on it.
And when we do find a garbage container, our can runneth over! The Conference Board of Canada gave us a C grade last year on environmental performance in large part because we produce more garbage per capita than any other country.
We recently learned of an interesting project in India, where garbage is suffocating its cities. The Ugly Indian is a group of anonymous volunteers dedicated to cleaning up India’s streets and calling people out on their attitudes.
Each week, The Ugly Indian chooses small segments of roadway where volunteers remove heaps of garbage from sidewalks and clean defaced walls. Calling their approach “smart ways of changing behaviour,” The Ugly Indian measures success on several factors, including whether an area remains clean for at least 90 days after it’s tidied up.
One project involved tackling the trash-covered wall of a public playground, which also served as a local urinal. Prior to cleanup, everybody, including schoolchildren, avoided the area. After sprucing it up, which included painting the walls red and white and adding potted plants, foot traffic has increased and neighbours wash the sidewalk and water the plants.
The Ugly Indian’s philosophy is “Kaam chalu, mooh bandh: Stop Talking, Start Doing.”
Canada may not have nearly the garbage problem India does, partly because we don’t have as many people, but maybe we can still learn from that country on how to tackle our litterbug ways.
The Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup is one of the largest public-action conservation programs in the country. Last year, more than 58,000 volunteers picked up litter along 3,000 kilometres of shoreline and inventoried every piece. Along with cigarette butts, items like a kitchen sink, rubber chicken and laundry basket also have been found. By witnessing firsthand the garbage people dump, volunteers say they have a greater understanding of how their own habits affect the environment.
Still, WWF Canada says Canadians are frustrated with environmental groups telling them that making small changes will have a big impact on our planet. Swapping a light bulb for an energy-efficient one does matter, but it doesn’t provide the immediate results that come with a national cleanup. WWF Canada is trying to pique our interest with creative campaigns like Off the Hook, a sustainable seafood event they hosted recently in downtown Toronto. They’re also producing a web series on electric vehicles that targets urban young professionals.
Then there’s the Clean Foundation in Nova Scotia. It looked to a different source of litter — fishers who dump garbage overboard instead of bringing it back to recycle. The organization realized part of the problem was space on decks — there wasn’t room to store garbage and fish. Its Ship to Shore program distributed boat bins to 2,000 fishermen designed to maximize space. Now, 80 per cent return home with garbage to recycle or properly dispose.
Canadians do have a will to make a difference — that’s why these programs work. If we realize that putting garbage in a public bin is more convenient than dealing with litter, we can quash the litterbug.