<\/p>\n
After collecting waste at the Santa Claus Parade, Huntsville\u2019s Green Team was disappointed at what they found along sidewalks and roads when it was over.<\/p>\n
Although the team walked the parade route, collecting waste from parade goers, there was still significant garbage like candy wrappers and flyers left behind, scattered along the roads.<\/p>\n
Judith Blanchette says that the team attends the parade in order to provide an alternative collection method for waste and recyclables at the event. Their goal is to divert waste from Muskoka\u2019s landfill and prevent plastic pollution from ending up in lakes and rivers.<\/p>\n
There are no longer streamers at the event after The Green Team voiced their concern about the unnecessary litter it creates. \u201cHowever, the candy litter is still a huge problem. It\u2019s not Halloween!\u201d says Blanchette.<\/p>\n
Blanchette notes that the current waste diversion rate (the rate that garbage gets diverted from landfill) is only 39 per cent when it should be at least at 60 per cent.<\/p>\n
Still, year by year, at the parade at least, it gets better.<\/p>\n
\u201cYears ago a friend and I noticed all of the waste left behind after a Santa Claus parade,\u201d says Blanchette. \u201cFrom then on, the Green Team has taken care of all the litter sorting and recycling. With each passing year of us offering a recycling option with our bins walking alongside the parade, there has been significantly less litter that we pick up after the parade.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\t\t