Litter, litter everywhere, but too tough to catch the culprits.
The District of Ucluelet believes litterers are too prevalent to be punished effectively, despite a lengthy plea from the Surfrider Foundation of Canada.
Council reviewed a letter from the national foundation during May 14’s regular meeting, urging the district to update the town’s litter bylaw with a specific eye on increased fines as a deterrent.
The letter noted that noted that the West Coast’s local Surfrider Pacific Rim chapter has made significant headway on limiting pollution with successful campaigns to ban single-use plastic bags, straws, cutlery and polystyrene containers with plastic water bottles next on the chopping block.
“For numerous of these items, our Pacific Rim communities have become the first jurisdictions in Canada to ban these items, which has enabled us to leverage regulatory change at the provincial and national levels,” the letter reads.
“Now, we come to you with a new, and hopefully easier campaign!”
That campaign is to update the town’s littering bylaw, which has been in place since 2004.
“While there has been an increase in public waste management receptacles, installation of cigarette butt recycling canisters, and beach clean signage, we continue to collect litter in Ucluelet and Tofino during our monthly cleanups,” the letter reads. “This trend also increases in the summer months with higher tourist traffic.”
The letter explains the impacts various commonly discarded materials have on the local environment, with plastic being a noted key concern.
“The most common form of litter we collect across the Pacific Rim is plastic, and as we know, this material does not break down in the terrestrial or marine environment, it persists as a toxic material that can both leach and absorb toxic chemicals,” the letter reads.
“Litter materials tend to be found in high-traffic public areas with a lack of disposal access and/or any perceived consequences for littering.”
It adds that the local Surfrider Pacific Rim chapter’s Hold on to your Butt campaign has been successful in cutting down on cigarette butt pollution, but suggests butts are still frequently found during monthly cleanup events.
“To date, we have collected over 1.7 million cigarette butts between both towns since the program’s inception in 2018 and yet we still see cigarette butts on the ground in both towns,” it reads.
The letter also announced the launch of a new campaign, dubbed Get Trashed, to call for amendments to the district’s littering bylaws with a push to increase fines for littering to $300 and called on Tofino and Ucluelet to work together to form a peninsula-wide movement.
“Residents and visitors are spending more time in both towns. Greater synchronicity, as we have seen with the Single-Use Plastic Regulation bylaws, will lead to greater efficacy in regard to our desired result to continue to decrease litter,” it reads.
It points out that the fine for littering in Ucluelet is currently $50 for a first offence and $100 for a second while Tofino fines litterers a flat rate of $100.
“Amending the littering bylaws to increase the fees will prove to be another line of defence in stopping littering in both towns, as individuals and businesses are more likely to follow litter laws when there are more serious legal or financial consequences associated with the bylaw,” it reads.
For its part, Surfrider promised to support the initiative by installing one new industrial bear-proof waste and recycling bin in both towns and is applying for funding to cover the costs.
“As we’ve seen, with the presence of waste bins, we find less litter, and there are current “gaps” in high-traffic areas in both towns where receptacles can be placed. Additionally, we would love to support the installation of littering signage in both towns—if people are aware of a higher fee and the adverse impacts, they will be less likely to litter,” the letter reads, adding the foundation could help with signage designs.
“Like the rest of our initiatives, we hope to work collaboratively with the Districts, and once again demonstrate environmental leadership for the rest of the province and country to look to. With our efforts, we continue to be solutions focused, positive, and inclusive - and work to make our initiatives fun and accessible for the business community, residents, and visitors to be a part of.
Ucluelet mayor Marilyn McEwen noted Ucluelet’s littering bylaws have been in place since 2004 and asked district CAO Duane Lawrence what would need to happen to update it.
“They are asking that those littering bylaws maybe should be updated. I believe that’s the gist of this very long letter,” McEwen said.
Lawrence said it would entail staff time to review the existing bylaws and balancing that time with the other priorities being hashed out in the district office.
Coun. Ian Kennington pointed out the council had just approved a new coffee shop opening at Amphitrite Point, which could result in more litter in the high-use natural landscape.
“Maybe it does make sense to really drive that home,” he said. “It might raise more money than the parking program,” he said.
Coun. Mark Maftei spoke against the idea, suggesting it would likely get in the way of higher priority projects.
“I think this is wasting staff’s time. I’d be surprised if a single littering fine has been handed out. We could make the fines a trillion dollars, if we’re not going to enforce it, what’s the point? To ask staff to prepare a report, I think their time is better spent working on more pressing issues before them. With all due respect to the Surfrider chapter and the good intentions of this initiative,” he said.
McEwen asked if the bylaw crew hands out littering fines actively.
CAO Duane Lawrence said the bylaw crew has the ability to dish out fines for littering, but suggested perpetrators have to be witnessed in the act.
“Giving fines for littering, means that you have to be present and see the littering occur at that moment to issue a fine. Having increased fines for littering specifically, wouldn’t necessarily reduce the occurrence of littering…It is exceptionally hard to deal with unless there is somebody’s name, address and phone number on the litter that was dropped,” he said.
“The thing that comes to my mind personally is the waste bags for dogs. They are around the trails all the time, you have to be there to see it to enforce it. If littering is a high priority and a high concern for the community and council, then updating the littering bylaw might not be the most effective way, it would be increasing enforcement and having more people watching out for that type of activity and enforcing the bylaw that we currently have.”
Coun. Jennifer Hoar noted there has been discussion around causing people who produce trash to be responsible for trash.
“I don’t know if that’s something we could easily do. I worry there’s a lot of plastic pollution. I pick up poop bags next to my car all the time, every day, literally,” she said.
“There’s been a lot of discussion about working on a way to hold people responsible for the trash. They need to package their products or work on a way to recycle that or something.”
Hoar shared Kennington’s concerns over the new coffee shop bringing increased litter.
“There’s way too much garbage out there and there’s way too much trash being dropped and I foresee the coffee shop trash being everywhere,” she said.
“I see it all the time. I pick it up all the time on my walk just from work to home, which is literally 50 baby-steps, and it’s frustrating to me.”
She agreed with Maftei though that the district does not have enough bylaw enforcement officers to be fining every litterer.
Kennington then retracted his support for the initiative due to the staff time it would take and council voted unanimously against reviewing the district’s litter bylaws.
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