May 4, 2023
NORTH STORMONT, Ontario - The Provincial Day of Action on Litter is celebrated on the second Tuesday of May each year in Ontario.
Click here for Ontario's Litter Cleanup Guide
We are 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.
There are actions we can all take to put litter in its proper place. You can do this by:
- Reducing waste: giving old products new life instead of throwing them away. For example, using old containers for storage or supporting second-hand clothing stores as opposed to buying new.
- Diverting waste: recycling or composting materials when and where possible to divert waste away from landfills. For example, by using your blue and green bins. When cleaning up litter, make sure you properly separate out recyclables.
- Preventing waste and litter: stopping waste before it's created, and before it has the chance to become litter. For example, by choosing to buy goods with less packaging or by bringing a reusable cup to take-out establishments that accept them.
- Cleaning up litter: helping to keep your community clean by picking up and properly disposing of litter, or by organizing a community litter cleanup for others. Our Litter Cleanup Guides have more information on how to organize a safe and successful cleanup.
- Properly disposing of waste: making sure anything that does belong in the trash, is securely placed in garbage bins to help keep our neighbourhoods clean.
If you want to report littering or illegal dumping in your community you can:
- Report littering to your municipality by contacting your local by-law office, waste disposal department or 311.
- To report pollution like illegal dumping, improper pesticide use and pollution on land, in the water or air, contact the public pollution reporting hotline at 1-866-MOETIPS (6638477) (Toll-free: 1-866-663-8477) or use the ministry’s online reporting tool. The information you provide will be collected and shared with ministry staff at the local district office for follow-up.
- To report illegal dumping on Crown land, please visit this webpage for more information.
Thank you for helping us to keep our province clean and litter-free.