Less Litter to Lament
November 09, 2010
Much less garbage on city streets, almost half as many cigarette butts
The combined and ongoing efforts of the City of Edmonton, businesses, communities and individuals to keep Edmonton litter-free are paying off.
The 2010 Litter Audit shows a 29 per cent reduction in litter on city streets and the average number of cigarette butts per site audited dropped from 961 per site in 2009 to 572 per site in 2010.
“We all have a role in keeping Edmonton clean, and the results of the litter audit show that Edmontonians are taking that responsibility seriously,” said Mayor Stephen Mandel, in thanking business and media partners for their support of Capital City Clean Up. “These results are encouraging as they indicate we are making progress towards achieving our vision of a safe, clean, livable city.”
The 2010 Litter Audit found an average of 19 pieces of litter per site, down from 27.3 pieces in 2009. Litter rates in Edmonton are lower than Toronto, Florida and San Francisco – other cities that held litter audits.
“These results are a testimonial to the hard work put in by the City and partners and volunteers to make Edmonton one of the cleanest cities in North America,” said Kathy Barnhart, chair of the steering committee for Capital City Clean Up. “We hope to continue to strengthen these partnerships and eventually make littering an unacceptable behaviour.”
For the litter audit, a third-party consultant with experience conducting litter audits in North America since 2002 randomly selected 123 sites throughout the city. Each site was analyzed and the amount of litter was sorted into large litter, such as napkins, printed paper and cardboard over 100 square centimeters in size, and small litter, including items such as cigarette butts, small paper, hard plastic and other items.
Nearly 1,000 Adopt a Block volunteers participated in Capital City Clean Up in 2010, and over 30 businesses and nearly 170 schools participated in the School Yard Clean Up program.
The City’s clean up efforts also received national recognition. Edmonton has been awarded the Communities in Bloom 2010 Tidiness Award.
A summary of the 2010 Litter Audit can be found at www.edmonton.ca/capitalcitycleanup.
Capital City Clean Up is a year-round litter and graffiti management program. It focuses on enhanced civic services, community engagement, public education and enforcement.
For more information:
Don Belanger
Community Services
| Title | Program Manager, Capital City Clean Up |
|---|---|
| Telephone | 780-496-5412 |
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