Floatable Waste Collaborative Action in Lake Ontario and Toronto's Inner Harbour

Floatable Waste Collaborative Action in Lake Ontario and Toronto’s Inner Harbour

Toronto and Region Conservation Authority, in collaboration with the University of Toronto Trash Team, A Greener Future, and Swim Drink Fish has received funding from Environment and Climate Change Canada to support initiatives as part of the Toronto Inner Harbour Floatables Strategy. This project will deliver public education and community action projects to prevent floatable plastic and litter pollution of Toronto waterways and Lake Ontario between 2023-2026.

Objectives

This project will advance new initiatives associated with Version 2.0 of the Toronto Inner Harbour Floatables Strategy. This includes:

Robust public education and awareness campaigns will engage businesses, schools, and the public on reducing floatable litter.

Community actions will be organized to minimize litter entering Toronto waterways and Lake Ontario.

Litter captured at community and school events will be quantified and characterized.

Activities

This project will take on 7 Major Activities between 2023-2026:

Clean up events will be organized to educate the public on ecosystem impacts of floatable litter and the Floatables Strategy while providing direct action, volunteer opportunities to clean-up Toronto’s shoreline and ravine spaces.

This curriculum-linked school program will introduce students in Grade 2 to 8 to the Floatables Strategy and outline the environmental impact of floatable litter related to freshwater. Classes will be provided with kits to support direct action through litter clean-ups along Toronto waterways and the shoreline.

Data from the cleanup events and school programs will be mapped through the Community Impact Mapping System, an educational StoryMap that will engage the public about the impacts of floatable litter.

The public will be invited to participate in these community science events aimed at categorizing waste collected from the waterfront. A community-based art project will also be commissioned as a visual education tool surrounding floatable litter that has been gathered by community events.

These awareness building events will be aimed at repurposing, reusing, and repairing used plastics.

This initiative is aimed at increasing the uptake of reusable foodware among cafes and restaurants.

These activities are focused on increasing literacy and awareness around the issue of pre-production plastic pellet pollution.