Peterborough Litter Action
Let’s work together to make Peterborough litter-free.
Keeping our streets, sidewalks, and green spaces safe and clean for everyone to enjoy is our priority. Litter looks bad, is harmful to the environment and animals, and is expensive to clean up. Help keep our streets, sidewalks, trails, parks and green spaces clean by properly disposing of waste. Reducing litter protects local ecosystems, wildlife and our drinking water.
In June 2023, City Council approved a pilot Litter Action Plan (Report COU23-006) to protect our waterways, greenspaces and public spaces from trash, litter and hazardous waste.
Organize a litter clean-up event
Get involved and join your neighbours and friends to help keep Peterborough litter-free. Let’s work together to clear garbage and recycling ensure our neighbourhoods, local parks, green spaces, and trails are beautiful and safe for everyone to enjoy.
When we all pitch in together, we can make a big difference!
How the City helps
Let us know about your event, and our Public Works team will provide you with nitrile gloves, bags and arrange a pickup location to collect waste after your event.
The City provides information to event organizers to help support a safe event.
Celebrate your success & inspire others to take action: share photos of your litter cleanup event on social media, and tag the City’s accounts and use the hashtag #PtboLitterAction. We’ll help spread the word!
Provincial Day of Action on Litter
The Provincial Day of Action on Litter is celebrated on the second Tuesday of May each year in Ontario.
The Province of Ontario is taking action to reduce the amount of waste going to landfills or becoming litter by bringing awareness to the impacts of waste on our environment and encouraging people to take action at home and in their community to help keep our environment clean and healthy for generations to come. Learn more about the Provincial Day of Action on Litter.
Circular Materials Month – Let’s Keep Our Community Litter-Free!
1. Carry a Reusable Bag: Keep a reusable bag in your car for food wrappers, takeout containers, or other trash. Dispose of it properly at home or in designated waste areas.
2. Embrace the 3 R’s: Reduce, reuse, and recycle! Avoid single-use plastics, use a reusable cup for your coffee, donate unwanted items, buy second-hand, and recycle correctly. When in doubt, check what goes where before tossing it out.
3. Adopt-A-Spot: Help keep our local greenspaces, sidewalks, and shorelines litter-free. Join a volunteer cleanup event with Pick Up Peterborough (PUP) – free supplies provided! Visit the Litter Action Plan to join or start an event.
4. Leave No Trace: Enjoy Peterborough’s parks, greenspaces, and trails responsibly. Carry out what you carry in to preserve our beautiful, free parks.
5. Dispose of Cigarette Butts Properly: Smokers, keep a container in your car or pocket for cigarette butts. They contain plastics and harmful chemicals, taking about 5 years to decompose. Check out the impressive stats from Clean Up Peterborough’s Unsmoke event and gear up for 2025!
- 10.04 kgs of cigarette butts collected
- 50,189 butts collected
- 581.18 kgs of litter collected totalling 49 bags
Let’s work together to keep Peterborough clean and green! 🌿♻️
Graffiti Management Plan
Following the public procurement process, Public Works has entered into a pilot graffiti management services agreement with local company: Goodbye Graffiti. The project will focus on the DBIA and public assets located within the centralized business area.
If you see graffiti in the DBIA (painted or stickered) please report directly to Goodbye Graffiti
DBIA Service Request for Graffiti Response
For all other areas outside of the DBIA please use the following link to report graffiti concerns to Public Works.
Record a completed community clean-up on our map
It takes a community effort to put litter in its place.
The City of Peterborough wants to recognize the effort of individuals and groups that roll up their sleeves to take action on litter.
How to use the map:
Step 1. Zoom into the section of the map, where you want to report a completed Litter Clean-up.
Step 2. Click on the plus symbol on the left side-bar menu and select and hold a pin and drag it onto the map.
Step 3. Add the details of your litter clean-up details and photos to share with the rest of the community. Note: comments will be displayed publicly, but we won't share your personal details.
Important note: This tool is to mark completed clean-ups. To register a Community Litter Clean-up please visit www.peterborough.ca/CleanUp to receive a clean-up kit from the City of Peterborough Public Works and arrange for a special trash collection.