Litter Prevention Program
Phone: (416) 321-0633
  • Home
    • 2014 Annual Report
    • This Week in 'Litterland' >
      • Current Edition
      • Past Issues by Date
    • Guide
    • Survey
  • About
    • Contact >
      • Corporate Brochures
      • WORDS Media & Communications Inc.
    • Media
    • Press Release
    • Program Brochure >
      • Program Details
    • What People Say >
      • Visitor Feedback
  • Get Involved
    • Partnerships
    • Help Us >
      • Our Friends
    • Heroes
  • News Reel
    • Mar. 2021
    • Feb. 2021 >
      • Jan. 2021
      • Dec. 2020 >
        • Nov. 2020
        • Oct. 2020
        • Sep. 2020
        • Aug. 2020
        • Jul. 2020
        • Jun. 2020 >
          • May 2020
          • Apr. 2020
          • Mar. 2020
          • Feb. 2020
          • Jan. 2020
          • Dec. 2019
          • Nov. 2019
          • Oct. 2019
          • Sep. 2019
          • Aug. 2019
          • Jul. 2019
          • Jun. 2019
          • May 2019
          • Apr. 2019
          • Mar. 2019 >
            • Feb. 2019
            • Jan. 2019
            • Dec. 2018
            • Nov. 2018
            • Oct. 2018
            • Sep. 2018 >
              • Aug. 2018
              • Jul. 2018
              • Jun. 2018
              • May 2018
              • Apr. 2018
              • Mar. 2018
              • Feb. 2018
              • Jan. 2018 >
                • Dec. 2017
                • Nov. 2017
                • Oct. 2017
                • Aug.-Sep. 2017
                • Jul. 2017 >
                  • Jun. 2017
                  • May 2017
                  • Apr. 2017
                  • Mar. 2017
                  • Feb. 2017 >
                    • Jan. 2017 >
                      • Dec. 2015
                      • Nov. 2015
                      • Oct. 2015
                      • Sep. 2015 >
                        • Aug. 2015
                        • Jul. 2015
                        • Jun. 2015
                        • May 2015
                        • Apr. 2015
                        • Mar. 2015
                        • Feb. 2015
                        • Jan. 2015
                        • Archives >
                          • Dec. 2014
                          • Nov. 2014
                          • Oct. 2014
                          • Sep. 2014
                          • Aug. 2014
                          • July 2014
                          • June 2014
                          • May 2014
                          • Apr. 2014 >
                            • News Vault >
                              • Mar. 2014
                              • Feb. 2014
                              • Jan. 2014
                              • Dec. 2013 >
                                • Nov. 2013
                                • Oct. 2013
                                • Sept. 2013
                                • Aug. 2013
                                • July 2013
                                • June 2013
                                • May 2013
                                • Apr. 2013
                                • Mar. 2013
                                • Feb. 2013
                                • Jan. 2013
                                • More News
                    • Feb. 2016 >
                      • Jan. 2016
                    • Nov. 2016
                    • Dec. 2016
                    • Oct. 2016 >
                      • Sep. 2016
                      • Aug. 2016 >
                        • Jul. 2016
                        • Jun. 2016
                        • May 2016 >
                          • Apr. 2016
  • Photo Gallery
    • Video
    • Library
    • Butts and More Butts
    • Clean Up Days
    • Coffee Cups
    • Litter Photos
    • Poster
  • Prevent Litter
    • You Vote
    • Opinion Poll
    • Causes
    • Solutions
    • Benefits
    • Tips >
      • For Business
    • Tobacco litter >
      • Fact Sheet
      • Letter to Imperial Tobacco
    • Resources >
      • Marine Litter
      • Plastics
    • Why Prevent Litter?
    • Toronto
  • Sheila's Shlog
    • Dear Diary

Ontario transport ministry: 'Wise up, don't clam up, on litter'

9/12/2013

0 Comments

 
Standing on the litter observation deck gives me a gull's eye view of the problems.  Then, of course, I feel obliged to report my findings to you. As a publicity-mad boss of mine often repeated, “What's the point of doing anything if no one knows about it?”

The observation deck isn't a real place, mind you. It's a mental approach I use for studying littering. Cool detachment, scientific precision, just the bare facts, absent of emotion.  

From my perch I look for omissions, contradictions, missed opportunities and reasons why.  So I’m looking at CentreLine, the one-page info sheet that accompanies my Ontario vehicle plate sticker renewal form.

What a perfect publication for information about roadside litter!  When you total what Ontario and municipalities spend on cleaning up the stuff, you might think a caution to drivers to not litter would be higher on the list of priorities than an offer to purchase a vanity licence plate.

Roadside litter is now a declared hazard in countries as far flung as China and New Zealand, and closer to home in Texas and Illinois.  “Roadside litter” in the Chinese language recently made it into the Cambridge online dictionary so prevalent is the habit of littering from cars in China now. You might think I’m joking that  banana peels are in the top three items tossed from vehicles in China.  I’d hate to see an elder slip on one of those skins.  It takes two years for a banana peel to decompose on pavement.

Why is there no mention of litter in the handout that goes to every single licensed driver in the Province of Ontario?  Clearly the thinking behind this government insert hasn’t been updated in years. This is such a missed opportunity to focus on one of the Ministry of Transportation’s main responsibilities – clean highways.

CentreLine informs us that drinking and driving laws in Ontario have changed and hits us with a few ‘did you know?’ alcohol facts. It references distracted driving, no hands-on phone talk or texting or face up to $500 in fines.  We read about no smoking with kids in a car and the availability of the enhanced driver’s licence. There is contact information and details on how to access online Ministry of Transportation services.  

Half the 7- x 14-inch sheet from MTO spends way too many lines on three apparently frequently asked questions: what to do when approaching a stopped police vehicle with its lights flashing, who can use and how to use High Occupancy Vehicle lanes and how to figure out whether the vehicle needs a Drive Clean emissions test.

But does the sheet once mention not littering from vehicles, particularly the number one scourge of all litter bar none, from roadside to seaside, cigarette butts? The silence is beyond deafening. Something stinks worse than a littered butt smoldering in a grocery store parking lot.

Hello, MTO? Time for a major redesign and a fresh rewrite of that CentreLine insert.  Advertising Ontario’s litter laws should be there front and centre, and perhaps enforcement might not be far behind.

0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Author

    Creative communications consultant Sheila White is founder of the Litter Prevention Program, and prior worked as a communications ace and PR strategist for some of Ontario's top political names.

    Archives

    July 2020
    January 2020
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    October 2017
    March 2016
    January 2016
    November 2015
    June 2015
    April 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012

    Categories

    All
    Advertising
    Art
    Canada Post
    Education
    Entertainment
    Environment
    Litter
    Litter Prevention
    Psychology
    Recycling
    Religion
    Rob Ford
    Tobacco Litter
    Toronto
    Waste Management

    RSS Feed