Audit Shows Less Trash, More Class
October 26, 2011
Edmontonians are doing their part!
Edmontonians are putting litter in its place and its paying off. Capital City Clean Up’s 2011 Litter Audit shows a 10 per cent reduction in litter on city streets from last year and a 37 per cent reduction from two years ago.
“This is great news. By working together, residents, businesses, local media and the City are improving Edmonton's image,” said Mayor Stephen Mandel, who also thanked business and media partners for their support of Capital City Clean Up at a recognition event held in City Hall. “More and more Edmontonians are realizing that keeping our city clean is a shared responsibility and are taking steps to clean up their communities.”
The 2011 Litter Audit found an average of 17 pieces of large litter per site, down from 19 pieces in 2010 and 27 pieces found in 2009.
“The continued downward trend is great to see,” said Kathy Barnhart, chair of the steering committee for Capital City Clean Up. “It shows we are changing the way Edmontonians view litter and the audit results confirm this. We can’t become complacent with this result however. We must continue to challenge ourselves to reduce litter further in our community.”
Small litter overall continues to be relatively low compared to other municipalities like City of Toronto at 21 items per site in 2006. Cigarette butts, the most common form of small litter, has risen by 7 per cent from 2010 but the number of small litter items per site remained relatively close with 11 items found per site in 2011 compared to 10 items per site in 2010. Tobacco packaging was the most identifiable piece of large litter with 230 items total for all locations.
Third-party consultant MGM Management conducted the audit, the fourth since 2007, by examining the same 123 sites throughout the city that were audited last year. Each site was analyzed and the amount of litter was sorted into large litter (over 25 square centimetres in size), such as candy bar wrappers, tobacco packaging and cardboard, and small litter (less than 25 square centimetres in size), that included items such as cigarette butts, small paper, chewing gum and other items.
Over 1,000 Adopt-a-Block volunteers and 35 program partners worked with Capital City Clean Up in 2011.
A summary of the 2011 Litter Audit can be found at www.edmonton.ca/capitalcitycleanup.
Capital City Clean Up is a year-round program addressing litter and graffiti reduction and prevention as well as Safe Needle Disposal and the Snow Angels 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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