Clean Roadways for Earth Day in Trent Lakes is Back

Residents of Trent Lakes can feel good about helping clean up their community and have a chance at a prize, too. In celebration of Earth Day (April 22) and Ontario’s fifth annual Provincial Day of Action on Litter (May 14), the Municipality of Trent Lakes in partnership with Trent Lakes Environmental Advisory Committee (EAC) is bringing back Clean Roadways for Earth Day for its second year!

Clean Roadways for Earth Day allows Trent Lakes residents to be entered into a draw for a FoodCycler unit if they clean a municipal roadway between April 22 to May 14, 2024.

To sign up, residents only need to register online as an individual or group. The municipality will then email instructions on picking up their supply kit, including a one-time free waste card.

To be officially entered into the draw for a FoodCycler, participants must submit a picture with the garbage bag(s) after the cleanup.

“We are very excited to collaborate with the new Trent Lakes Environmental Advisory Committee on this project,” says Matt Wintjes, Supervisor of Waste and Public Works Coordinator with the Municipality of Trent Lakes. “This is an opportunity for everyone to help beautify our municipality while also doing our part to clean up the environment.”

During the 2023 campaign, more than 54 bags worth of litter were taken off the roads. Overall: 

• 42+ bags of garbage were collected.
• 12+ bags of recycling were collected.
• 20+ Municipal roads were covered in the cleanup.
• 52 residents participated.

Marty Kusluski of Trent Lakes was the lucky winner of a FoodCycler in 2023.

A FoodCycler is a small electronic device that breaks down food waste into a nutrient-rich soil amendment that can be used in gardening. It retails for $499 plus tax on the official FoodCycler website.

In 2021, the Municipality of Trent Lakes partnered with Food Cycle Science (FCS), an Ottawa-based company, to offer residents FoodCycler units through a pilot Food Waste Diversion program.

FoodCycler units were first offered to 150 households at a subsidized rate, with a well-received response from the community. Trent Lakes continues to expand the program, with at least 400 households in Trent Lakes utilizing the FoodCycler so far. 

The results? An estimated 96 metric tonnes of food waste are now diverted per year from Trent Lakes’ landfills, resulting in a reduction of the municipality’s carbon footprint, greenhouse gas emissions, and weekly garbage quantities. 

For its initiatives, the Municipality of Trent Lakes was proud to receive the 2022 Innovation Award from Municipal World for reducing organic waste.

Sign up for Clean Roadways for Earth Day here!