Litter doesn't diminish on its own. In fact it multiplies like an invasive species. 

Bolton takes the nip-in-bud strategy to environmental offences.  Did you know that the threat of being seen and the embarrassment of being caught are two powerful deterrents to all these unwanted behaviours?  

CCTV cameras?  Too bad they are needed.  With all due respect to privacy purists, this may be one instance where the overarching public good trumps the personal infringement argument.  I will leave it to others to debate this.  All I know is I am heartened every time I see a punctuated response to littering, dog-fouling, graffiti and dumping.  Not a one-off of sloganeering or political posturing and toothless laws, but a well thought out series of linked steps to bring the majority-held standard into effect.

You can read more about Bolton's approach in Crime Reporter Miranda Newey's piece in The Bolton News.

When one tries to push for holistic action on littering, the first instinct of those who could most help is to try to dismiss you as crazy.  While Bolton's bold posture fails to prove I'm not crazy, it sure gives legs to my advocacy for sustained responses to littering here at home. 


 

A couple of bright spots popped into view during my recent observations of litter’s ugly trail.

Heading into Toronto at a slow crawl on the Gardiner Expressway I see the signs, their LED bulbs aglow. These are new.  They read: Keep Toronto roads clean. Don’t litter.

This is an idea I’ve been pushing at MTO, whose main roadside litter guy, Mike, welcomed my advocacy. We will be seeing at long last a dedicated litter message displayed during the summer on new provincial road signs slated for some Ontario highways.  You would think something like that would be easy to orchestrate, a classic no-brainer.  In reality, making alterations to any existing government communications program and its bureaucratic approach feels like trying to break into jail.

Next, I want the transport ministry to mention littering on driver license renewal forms.

Another highlight to note, I see there’s a LiveGreen Toronto subway ad campaign to encourage people to recycle, probably aimed at condo dwellers, whose boards are notoriously slow to get with the environmental times.

On occasion I notice really clean commercial lots around town. What a great calling card it is to see open lawns, decent, well-placed containers, conveying respect and caring! The halo effect seemed to spill to the street and sidewalks, which were amazingly absent of litter for a city like Toronto.

I know everyone says, “Toronto is a clean city”.  If we are, we are a clean city with a very dirty secret. Cast your eyes to the broad landscape and you can’t tell me I’m wrong.
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(June 8, 2014) Had a message from Toronto Ward 6 Councillor Mark Grimes inviting me to speak to a joint Business Improvement Area meeting of 20 or so business owners next Friday. I said I would be delighted.  Litterers pose a particular problem for retailers.  

I’ll be heading to Etobicoke, home of Toronto’s notorious mayor, (who I exposed as a litterer – search keywords: Sheila White Rob Ford littering.)  Fortunately, he’s in drug-and-alcohol rehab right now and can’t do any more damage for a while. 

He’s the human version of the Exxon Valdez. 

If you read the caption, above, and guessed that this scene was taken immediately outside the door of a downtown hospital, you'd be right. I took this photo yesterday to illustrate what's lacking in this whole quit smoking drive, which pushes tobacco litter outdoors into uncontrolled settings absent of ash receptacles. I provide a service that is sorely needed, that of simply talking nicely to smokers and giving them an ashtray.  Then they are more than willing to cooperate with your anti-littering drives. No bylaw that chases smoking outside should prevent the installation of ash receptacles, but that is the unfortunate result of most smoking bans for areas around entranceways.  (March 27, 2014)

 A positive litter reminder popped into my head. Three words "Contain your litter". And I learned a new word for "litterbug" from the UK the other day. It's "grub".  (March 24, 2014) 

Positively creative! There's something catchy about the City of Rochester's logo - trying to make things "a litter bit better."  I love creativity, the sure road to solving problems.  Be creative. One of my favourite Cole Porter songs says it all: "Use Your Imagination". What do I imagine? I imagine I can make a difference. And you can,too. Where does your imagination take you ? (March 18, 2014)

Yesterday I knocked on a neighbour’s door and asked her to dispense with the multiple huge mounds of dog pooh straddling the property line in the front yard. She said ‘yes’. Big, friendly, 3-year-old boxer named Leo was the culprit. Not his normal practice. Headline: Canine breaks jail, neighbour cries 'foul'. (March 18, 2014)