The Niagara Region offers a huge variety of wonderful events that draw in tourists and residents alike. But the ugly side of these events is the garbage they generate. The Eco-Defenders attend many of these gatherings to sort through the trash, ensuring compost and recyclables end up in the right places. What we have found is that the amount of actual garbage could be significantly reduced by eliminating disposable plastic cutlery. Through separation while sorting, we calculate that 10% to 36% consists of disposable plastic cutlery, plastic that in landfills will take thousands of years to breakdown. And just so you understand the size of the problem, the above photo represents ONE SINGLE DAY'S worth of cutlery at one single event. Imagine that multiplied by all the days of all the events in our Region. With the availability of compostable cutlery made from bamboo, wood, starch or other manufactured products, this strain on our ecosystem could be lifted.
We all want to keep Niagara beautiful. We are, therefore, asking that within the Region of Niagara, all organisers of public events and all vendors and participants of these events be restricted to using and providing only compostable cutlery.
