Joy Lachica

Peterborough, ON City Councillor for Town Ward

Green Renewal & Litter Action Plan

Renew and restore our natural and public spaces, like Jackson Creek, to enhance the natural beauty at the heart of Peterborough.

Create a new Litter Action Plan to protect our creeks, wetlands, greenspaces and public spaces from the blight of trash, litter and hazardous waste.

Renew and restore the valued but degraded natural and public spaces in downtown and Town Ward to enhance the natural beauty at the heart of Peterborough/Nogojiwanong. 

Cleaning and sprucing up the parks, parkettes, and pedestrian trails, walkways and alleyways that weave in and around downtown to promote a bustling, healthy and connected city.

Harnessing our community’s wealth of creative and ecological talents to come together to design and plan outdoor spaces and making connections that are greener, cleaner, and safer for residents and for our plants and animals.

Acting with urgency to protect and enhance our beloved Jackson Creek and restore this precious blue ribbon into the sparkling jewel of our downtown.

Finally, this all means better stewardship of our creeks, wetlands, greenspaces and public spaces, including protecting from the ever-encroaching trash, litter, and hazardous refuse with a new Litter Action Plan on the prevention and collection of trash and litter, especially at spring snow melt.

Renewing and restoring the natural and public spaces in and around the downtown is key to our economic, community, and cultural recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Designing and investing in creating a thriving, energetic, and beautiful downtown region will promote and enable creative commercial and cultural uses like expanded patios, outdoor markets, outdoor music, performances, and biophilic art. It will support more equitable access to the emotional healing and support that nature has given us in this time of crisis, and it will increase habitat for the birds, fish and wildlife that rely on urban nature.

City of Toronto – City Litter Operations 

Peterborough Examiner – Ptbo Letter about litter 2021

Global News – Peterborough seeing a spike in littering

Litter is no longer just a spring thaw bi-product, just for school groups and climate action crews to clean up. We do our part as citizens, as keepers and as a Council to mitigate this growing green concern. However, it’s become an unfortunate fixture, an ever-encroaching toxic reality impacting birds, fish and wildlife in Jackson Creek, Little Lake, the Otonabee and wetlands in and around Town Ward. Children and youth are calling on our elected representatives to follow their lead in truly tackling the trash dilemma with the urgency action required. Town Ward creeks, wetlands and green spaces need to be protected and rescued from refuse, by strategically populating downtown areas with separated (plastic/glass, paper, garbage) waste receptacles and implementing a pre-emptive sign campaign and including a fine for littering.