article by: Steve Papagiannnis
Meeting was held on Jan 30, 2025 at the main City Hall building and was attended by approximately 20 people from various organizations.
There was quite a bit of discussion regarding the Litter Charter endorsement event. Approximately 50 people and organizations signed the Charter and those who attended felt it was good to meet so many like-minded people. The types of organizations that signed were non-profits like the BEA, religious groups, and the Brampton Board of Trade. I asked if there would be a public listing of the groups that signed the charter and if there would be any commitments from those who did sign. Publicly listing the groups was being looked into and a follow up with the signatories will offer active measures that they can take to reduce litter and waste. There will be a request for some measure of what was accomplished.
The Park Clean Up program officially restarts on April 1st . Individuals and groups can submit a request support from the city for a clean up event. The site tracks how much waste was collected and compares groups progress towards a litter-free Brampton. Https://www.brampton.ca/litterreduction also works to access the site. Of course people don’t have to wait to April 1st to set up a clean-up event.
| Litter Reduction Initiatives – Brampton City of Brampton Litter Reduction Initiatives. In 2023, Brampton City Council passed a motion for staff to work with community groups and stakeholders to review processes and coordination efforts to identify gaps in maintaining a clean city. www.brampton.ca |
There was also some talk regarding a Litter Lotto or other awards to get people more engaged by winning prizes for their efforts in litter cleanups. No action was taken on this.
Peel Region is participating in the website https://sharereuserepairhub.ca/ It’s a great way for citizens to reduce their waste and save items from goin to landfill (or incinerators)
The region is also looking to provide grants to organizations of $5,000 – $25,000 for environmental programs. They will be collecting applications this year for 2026 events. 2025 granting was done at the end of last year.
Brampton has some internal information regarding the litter in the city (via 311, parks department data, etc), and is seriously considering a litter audit to help understand the scope of the litter problem and set a baseline for improvement. Knowing the areas, types of litter, sources, and volumes of litter are important to direct resources. Other cities like Toronto, Vaughn, Vancouver, and Edmonton have done these through a third-party consulting firm, Sheridan College offered to provide this service to the city as the college has used templates from other cities to conduct their own audits. Sheridan could offer interns as part of the program for Brampton. One option would be to create a Litter Reduction Index to help measure progress on reducing litter in the city.
Meetings will be held every month going forward but alternating between in person and on-line.