Community Science Project Continues for the Sixth Year
Submitted by Brenda Stewart,
PBTC Litter Ambassador
The Hike It, Love It, Keep it Clean Community Science project started as a pilot project for the Peninsula Bruce Trail Club (PBTC) in the summer of 2021. Due to its overwhelming success, it became a Bruce Trail Conservancy-wide project in 2022 and 2023, and since then has continued an ongoing trail stewardship project in the Peninsula section.
This upcoming summer, a dedicated group of PBTC Litter Ambassador volunteers will again be out on the Bruce Trail with their tongs, buckets and gloves, collecting, sorting and submitting data about litter. Along with our community partners and supporters, Bruce Trail Conservancy, Ontario Parks (MacGregor Park), Bruce Peninsula National Park, Keep the Bruce Clean & Green, A Greener Future, and Owen Sound Waste Watchers, they have collaborated to ensure that our green spaces along the Bruce Trail remain clean and our messages about litter and the environment get out to the public.
Each summer, between May and mid-September, PBTC litter ambassadors conduct individual litter pickups, as well as featuring group pickups with displays at select Bruce Trail hotspots. During these events, they communicate with trail users of all ages and inspire others to re-think their commitment to litter reduction, hopefully changing attitudes and behaviours around littering!
In 2025, from May – August, volunteers picked up 4,654 pieces of litter during 49 hours of volunteer time over 38 different clean-ups. The complete reports for each year, with details on types and amounts of litter collected, can be found at the following link: https://peninsula.brucetrail.org/hikeitloveitkeepitclean/
Two Important findings from the 2025 Hike It! Love It! Keep it Clean! Community Science Project:
1. The #1 contributor to litter found at Bruce Trail access points and hot spots remains, as in every previous year, Cigarette butts.
Although the total number of cigarette butts collected this past summer is down from the previous year, it still comprised 41% of the overall litter pieces collected.
Cigarette butts are also the #1 littered item around the globe. They are not biodegradable! The toxins and microplastics in the cigarette butts leach into our soil and water. A single cigarette butt can pollute up to 1,000 litres of water! They can be ingested by local birds and wildlife causing poisoning and even death. Improperly discarded cigarette butts can also cause wildfires.
All the cigarette butts collected in our project are included in the Bruce Peninsula National Park’s TerraCycle submissions. There, plastic from cigarette filters is separated from the other cigarette components and used to manufacture new plastic items such as plastic pallets and furniture. Our cigarette butt collection alone have diverted over 17,000 cigarette filters from local landfill and many, many more from BPNP Park staff collections!
2. The second highest contributor to litter found at Peninsula Bruce Trail access points and along the trail are single use plastic food and beverage containers, making up 27% of all litter pieces collected.
This data provided the impetus for the Saugeen Peninsula Reduces Waste – BYO project, introduced in 2024, promoting BYO and reducing single use food and beverage containers. This is a partnered initiative with Sources of Knowledge and modeled after a national initiative called, Canada Reduces. The main objective is to engage and promote local businesses to “Bring Your Own Container” and “Plan Ahead” message. PBTC helps to shine a light on local food and beverage businesses which are reducing their use of single use plastic containers and water bottles by profiling “BYO” businesses on our PBTC website. To learn more, go to: https://peninsula.brucetrail.org/get-involved/saugeen-peninsula-reduces-waste/
Upcoming Events
This year we hope to support several local Community Events, as well as continue to hold regular PBTC Litter Pickups at Bruce Trail hotspots throughout the summer.
We are always looking for new volunteers! Your efforts can create an impact in preserving and protecting wild spaces and inspire others! Together we can make a difference!
If you would like to join us as a PBTC Litter Ambassador, or learn about upcoming opportunities to join us for an event, check out our webpage and the PBTC event calendar. 2026 events will be posted soon and updated as they are scheduled: https://peninsula.brucetrail.org/hikeitloveitkeepitclean/
To learn more about the Bruce Trail or the Peninsula Bruce Trail club visit: peninsula.brucetrail.org
