The folks at Halifax Regional Municipality decided to put a price tag on "the cost of littering." And the result was a powerfully enlightening, and engaging, campaign - one that captured the minds of many folks residing in the HRM.

HRM’s public works department spends $2 million a year on litter maintenance. To combat this, they brought together a multi-stakeholder group – including the local RCMP and police and the departments of transportation and public works – and focused their campaign on three pillars: education, enforcement, and clean-up. Four-stream source separation containers and extra litter baskets were installed throughout HRM. Officers on the beat handed out educational brochures, warnings and even fines of $387.50 to litterbugs caught in the act!

The campaign struck a chord - as did its TV and transit ads. And in addition, a one-day clean up effort – "the 20-minute makeover" - saw 7,000 people collect more than 600 garbage bags of litter and 32 bags of recyclables. The folks at HRM Solid Waste Resources are developing an even broader campaign this year which will be launched very soon.