Mayor John Tory challenges residents, businesses across city to clean Toronto together

Mayor wants to top last year's turnout for 2-day, city-wide spring cleaning

Cbc.ca
March 29, 2019
Philip Lee-Shanok

As the snow banks recede from city streets and Torontonians greet spring, Mayor John Tory is calling on volunteers to come out and help clean up what's been hiding beneath.

"I think the city does look a bit rough at this time of year and there's two reasons -- one is because the snow covers up a lot during the winter, but the other problem is that people still feel it's okay to throw down coffee cups, napkins, water bottles and pop cans," said Tory.

This year will be the 16th Annual Clean Toronto Together campaign -- one of the largest events of its kind in Canada.

It will take place from Friday, April 26 to Sunday, April 28.

Last year, 186,000 people took part and collected 30 tonnes of trash. This year, Tory has set the bar even higher with a goal of 200,000 volunteers. So far, 440 schools have signed up.

Mayor Tory gets down and dirty cleaning up Nathan Phillips Square with a group of volunteers. (Chris Langenzarde/CBC)
Samantha Anderson, with Live Green Toronto, is one of 6,000 volunteeers who'll be taking part.

"If the city is messy people treat it worse. So if we could just tidy it all up then we won't go down that slippery slope of just turning everything into a garbage bin," she told CBC Toronto.

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There are approximately 9,400 street litter/recycling bins across the city and 10,000 garbage and recycling bins in city parks, and Tory says he'd like to see more Torontonians use them.

Samantha Anderson, a volunteer with Live Green Toronto, says people need to do their part to keep the city clean. (Chris Langenzarde/CBC)
"I just really hope people will start to give more thought to this kind of thing," Tory said.

"We provide plenty of places to put things that are able to be recycled or things that aren't," he said. "And we just have to change our habits and this is a part of making the city look better after winter."

Robert Orpin, the city's director of collections and litter operations, agrees.

"It's an eyesore when you walk along the street. We have so many visitors who come to Toronto every year. Last thing you want to show off to your visitors is a dirty city," he said.

Robert Orpin, the director of collections and litter operations for the city, says people need to take ownership of the trash they generate. (Chris Langenzarde/CBC)
Orpin said an audit in 2016 identified the two main types of small litter: chewing gum and cigarette butts.

"People think after finishing the butt they can throw it on the road and again the tobacco fairy is going to come along and clean the stuff up. That's not happening," he said.

Orpin said Municipal Licensing and Standards, which enforces city bylaws, can issue tickets, but an officer must actually see somebody in the process of littering.

"So the challenge is take ownership of your litter and make sure it's disposed of properly."