Waste Free Toronto

Choose to Re-Use!

It's the small things that add up. One coffee cup or one bottle of water doesn't seem like much. Now, think about how full a garbage can would be with 250 single use coffee cups, one for every work day in the year?

Now imagine if just 10% of Torontonians (250,000 people) used throw-away cups and water bottles: it would be a nightmare of unnecessary waste!

But if you choose reusables, like a refillable water bottle, or a travel mug, you can help eliminate this nightmare. You save money and you help the environment (bottled water costs so much more than tap water, and Toronto's tap water is some of the cleanest in the world).

Challenge:

• Get a refillable water bottle and reusable travel mug and commit to carrying them with you. Or, if you're having a coffee or tea at a cafe, ask them to put it in a reusable mug instead of a disposable cup.

• Snap a photo of yourself using your refillable water bottle or mug and share it with us below.

Take the extra step:
If you already carry a mug and water bottle, choose a reusable to replace another disposable product in your life - for example using lunch containers instead of disposable bags, or carrying reusable cutlery to use when you get take-out food. Tell us about it and share a photo.

Knowing how much waste you produce will help you identify how it can be reduced!

• Use Tool #1 OR Tool #2 below to calculate the approximate garbage your household creates in a year.
• Enter your calculated household waste per year in the comment box below to complete the challenge.