Take2 Watershed Clean Up

Styrofoam is one of the most hazardous piece of litter, and is extremely harmful to wildlife and marine life. Once broken down, birds and other wildlife confuse it for food; leading to choking, digestive problems and death.

You can find waste guides on how to responsibly dispose of most hazardous waste on your city’s website or download the Waste Wizard app if you’re in Guelph, Kitchener, Cambridge, and Waterloo.

With every fresh snowfall, the city always looks a little extra beautiful… and sometimes also a little cleaner! However, very often litter is just buried under layers of snow. It’s harder to pick up litter in the winter, but when it is visible, it only takes a second to pick it up!

With the holidays fast approaching, grift wrapping and extra packaging is finding its way to our watersheds. Here is the inside plastic layer from a box of chocolates found on the side of the road.

How are you tackling the issue of waste and excessive packaging this holiday season?

💨🍃 Windy Day Woes 🍃💨

Have you ever come across a bunch of trash or recycling in your city and wondered, “How on earth did all this litter get here?”

When windy days coincide with trash & recycling pick up days, there is often a HUGE SURGE in visible waste and sadly, waste flows downstream first to our local waterways and then to other downstream areas. This also poses big problems to sewers, waste water treatment, and other city infrastructure.

The City of Guelph City of Kitchener City of Waterloo City of Cambridge we’d love to see some local solutions to stop this kind of solid waste pollution at the source!

Water, water, by the bay
what pollution were you saved from today? 🌊

This Bic disposable pen was trying to roll its way into the bay. That’s why it’s so important to pick up litter right when you see it 👀 🗑

Better yet - pick it up, snap a pic, and log your clean up with Take2 to track our collective impact. You can even track your specific impact with Take2 by starting a team. Just DM us to get signed up 🤗

One of the most common pieces of litter found in the so far has been coffee cups - in particular Tim Hortons] cups.

While everyone is talking about we’re wondering how & Tim Hortons] could launch an initiative to normalize bringing your own coffee cup, educating on the importance of recycling, or eliminating single-use waste 🤔

Share in the comments how you’re working to reduce waste in your day-to-day life 🛑 🗑 ♻️

As the weather changes, litter gets buried under wet leaves and snow. That’s why it’s important to pick up litter when it’s visible and accessible!

Challenge your friends to join the movement and spread the solution to litter, just like did with her friend here.

Tag us for a chance to be featured on our page 💙

With the global pandemic, more and more people are using outdoor spaces—which is great!

And with that, trails have become a very common place to find litter. Next time you’re out and about on your favourite trail, pick up pieces of litter, log your cleanup, and track your impact at take2cleanup.com !

Picking up this litter on my morning run only took two seconds!

Litter clean ups don’t have to be complicated or require an organized crew. We all can do our part, no matter how small.

The Green Team at Centennial CVI has been participating in the Take 2 Watershed cleanup everyday!

The Green Team does a litter pick up after lunch time. Most litter found on campus includes masks, plastic water bottles, booster juice, and fast food cups.

With a bin and some tongs, the campus is looking nice and clean!

🪢 Say Nope to Plastic Rope 🪢

With all the natural alternatives out there, we can confidently say ✌🏼 to these plastic polluters.

Plastic-based ropes are especially harmful because they take a LONG time to breakdown and can entrap wildlife easily.

And there’s yet another reason why we Take2 - to ensure precious wildlife isn’t harmed unnecessarily by litter.

Log your Take2 cleanup at tinyurl.com/take2cleanup or use the link in bio. Water and wildlife thank you for your action 🌊 🐳 💙

🌧 Rainy Day Reminder 🌧

Where the rains run, most things are washed away with it - including litter like straws, paper, and cigarette butts.

We invite you to see the litter around you through the eyes of falling rain. Where will this pollution flow? Which river or creek or pond will end of holding this burden? What can I do to help?

The simplest answer is Take2 ✌🏼so when the rains come, just water is washed away 💙

This Friday is Global Climate Strike Day and groups & individuals from around the world are acting locally to highlight this global emergency.

This local Guelph event will start with a rally at 8:45AM at Guelph City Hall, then a march to the Nestlé / Blue Triton Facility.

Litter pick-up boxes will be available for those who would like to Take2++ while they march for our planet.

Join Organizing Committee for Global Climate Strike Day's rally this Friday to oppose / in .

1️⃣Deny the their permit to take water
2️⃣Phase out permits to take water
3️⃣Return the Aberfoyle site to Indigenous peoples

https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=DQSIkWdsW0yxEjajBLZtrQAAAAAAAAAAAAYAAKlxXTJUMldZVThQQVlXMlIxOFEzTjMwVDJJOEVSSC4u

✨ Today & Tomorrow - Collective Action for World Cleanup Day ✨

We call on you this weekend to use your eyes, your hands, & your hearts:
🔹 Pause to look around
🔹 Notice the waste around you
🔹 Look where this waste might flow towards our precious waters
🔹 Reflect on the role you can play
🔹 Be the change you want to see

This is our time to use small acts to make big change. Let’s rise together to collectively protect our watersheds.

👋 Scrap the wrap 👋

Did you know most snack and bottle wrappers are oil-based products and are not recyclable? 😟

The good news: Some businesses are opting to by using compostable and edible alternatives to traditional wrappers!

We can play a part by demanding our governments ban polluting waste, asking for more businesses to step up to be a part of the solution, and voting with our 💵 💸 to support sustainable alternatives.

When you Take2 and log your cleanup, it also helps track the waste entering our watershed so we can hold polluting brands accountable and stem the flow of pollution at the source 💪🏽

World Cleanup Day is this Saturday and we’re challenging you to get out there and Take2!

If your organization or classroom is meeting in person, take a break to Take2 for The Blue! You can register a team on our website to track your groups impact 💪🏽

If your a student, we’re doing a Take2 presentation & cleanup with on Friday at 12:30 at the Garbasaurus in Royal City Park

If you’re someone who cares about your local waterways, take 2 minutes to Take2, take 2 photos, and log your clean up on Friday or Saturday in your neighbourhood!

DM us for any questions and we’ll see you Taking 2 this weekend 😎💦

💦 Where does rainwater flow? 💦

Where water flows, so goes the litter in our watersheds.

When rain falls, often it first goes to smaller runoff ways which feed our rivers, wetlands, groundwater and other larger waterways.

This is why we Take2 - to protect the waters we love and track pollution to stop it at the source 💙

🧐 What the trash is this? 🧐

Comment with your guess for what this piece of trash is made of below! (it was collected from a storm drain)

First 3 people to guess correctly will receive a Take2 sticker 🤗

💧 This is what Take2 is all about: protecting water 💧

It’s important to remember the trash that ends up on trails & streets doesn’t just disappear. It moves with the wind and flows with the rains.

This is why we Take2. This is why we bring a friend. This is why we collect data on polluting brands. This is why we ask businesses to stop using plastic. This is why we act.

It’s all for you, water 💙

Water Watchers team member Dani recently participated in a cleanup in California to learn more about their established waste pickup initiatives and how Surf Rider strives to keep our beaches clean!

There are a few different awesome things going on in this photo that are making an impact on pollution. Say what you see if the comments! 👀

🥤 Plastic Straws Suck 🥤

Another common single-use item found in our watersheds is the plastic straw. On average, a plastic straw is used for only 20 minutes from being unwrapped to trashed (and many don’t make it into the trash at all).

To help stop pollution at the source, you can start a conversation with your favorite local establishment about compostable & paper straw alternatives 💪🏽

Pro Tip: Bring your own straw (BYOS 😏) or say, “No straw, please!” when ordering a cold beverage.

🚨 Litter Offender Alert: The Cannabis Industry 🚨

The data we gather through Take2 submissions helps identify businesses & industries contributing to litter pollution, so we can advocate for change.

Trending on the Take2 Watershed Clean Up submissions is discarded packaging from cannabis products.

More industries need to and your Take2 cleanup submissions help reveal the biggest offenders. With this information, we can hold them accountable for their polluting packaging and help say forever 🙌🏽

So what’s the deal with plastic? 🤔

Plastic is particularly harmful to waterways & the species that rely on them for a few different reasons…

🔹Plastic does not decompose
🔹Microplastics enter the food chain
🔹Plastics impact riverbed habitat
🔹It impedes water & sediment flows
🔹Animals become entangled in it

The best thing we can do? and pressure our governments to ban all harmful single-use plastics 👋💪🏽

✌️ Skip the Zip ✌️

One easy way to reduce waste (like this zip tie found on a trail) is to find sustainable or easily recyclable alternatives. The best alternatives though are 🔹 reusable 🔹 because it stops polluting waste from being created & entering the environment.

How do you in your life?

💧Litter flows downstream💧

Picking up litter protects local watersheds from many impacts, particularly solid waste pollution.

Behind this single-use plastic bottle is a creek bed and each time it rains, this is where water flows, both because it naturally flows downhill and our city infrastructures direct water toward natural waterways.

We can all do small things to protect these flow-ways from human impacts by taking small actions. Start with a and keep your local waterways free from pollution, 2 pieces of trash or recycling at a time 🚮 ♻️

PS please stop promoting single use plastics, especially for bottled water! 🚯 play your part in addressing the climate crisis and say 👋 ✌️ to these unnecessary products on your shelves.

Let’s talk ✨ Styrofoam ✨

Styrofoam - a trademark of - unfortunately is a product that isn’t recycled in a lot of places and ends up causing a lot of pollution.

Why you ask? The biggest reason is 💰💰💰

Styrofoam is about 95% air, so it takes up a lot of space yet doesn’t yield much in return when recycled. This means it takes a lot of energy, time, and space to recycle which for recycling companies translates to bottom line impacts.

What can you do?
🔹Refuse stryofoam products
🔹Ask local businesses or shippers to use alternatives
🔹Start a conversation with your local officials about launching a styrofoam recycling program (it’s not about the 💰- it’s about the impact & our planet)

Litter courtesy of and their single use plastic packaging 🕊

Action courtesy of 💦

Track your action with the Take2 project at our link in bio 🎬2️⃣

Thank you for participating in the 💚

How long does litter last?
🚬 Cigarette Butts • 5 years
🥫 Aluminum Cans • 200 years
🛍️ Plastic Bags • 20 years
🚰 Plastic Bottles • Forever

Help keep our trails and watersheds clean by taking time to take 2 pieces of waste away with you.

Join us today for the launch of Take2 Watershed Cleanup at 1pm as a part of the 2Rivers Festival!

RSVP here: https://www.2riversfestival.org/take_2_nature_cleanup_2021

Happy Day of Action on Litter! Follow Environment Ontario all week long for tips
and facts about waste prevention and
reduction at home .

We all have the power to stop
waste and litter from getting into our
environment. All actions – big or small
– can make a difference. .
Find out more: Ontario.ca/actONlitter

We take a lot from the environment. Let's start taking the time to be accountable for our communities.

As a result of and physical distancing requirements, more people are spending time outside walking, biking, hiking, and paddling. is challenging you to step up your environmental stewardship and Take 2 the next time you're in nature. Take 2, take a photo of your action, and nominate two friends to !

We believe small actions can create collective change.