The enjoyment of city parks is enhanced by the safe, clean, and regular disposal of garbage, recycling, and other waste that might otherwise be left in garbage cans that tend to overfill. Such diversion is beneficial to the environment, including the preservation of landfill site space, recycling of single-use paper, plastic, and metals, and biofuels and fertilizers from compostable materials and dog feces currently not being lawfully disposed of – outside of parks.
Recommendation 3b of the Evergreen Plan for Glebe Parks, adopted by the GCA in September 2020, is that “the city of Ottawa should implement an environmentally friendly system for the collection, disposal and recycling of dog waste that is cost effective and easy for dog owners to use.”
The City of Ottawa, like other municipalities in Canada, has now successfully piloted its own Waste Diversion in Parks Pilot program which streams the aforementioned sources into separate containers and is poised to expand the programme further. The Parks Committee has commended the City for its efforts in this regard and through Councillor Menard, requested the programme’s speedy implementation in parks throughout the city.