There's something different about Montreal's Lachine Canal: no more trash cans
Urban planning professor says similar urban projects never proved to reduce litter
UPDATE APRIL 26, 2024: The trash cans are returning to the Lachine Canal now that the 4-week pilot project has wrapped up. Parks Canada says the cleanliness of the canal was deemed satisfactory and taken note of the comments from the public. Along with bringing back the bins, the department says it will be trying out new models at strategic locations.
Sara Darville-Trottier walks and runs along the Lachine Canal in Montreal quite often, and she was out Thursday despite the rainy weather when she noticed something was missing.
For a stretch of about two kilometres, Parks Canada has removed trash cans.
"To me, it just seems that they are promoting pollution," said Darville-Trottier.
"I can just imagine people, you know, throwing things on the ground or into the canal and it's already kind of dirty. There's already stuff floating in it."
In a statement, Parks Canada says about 30 garbage bins have been removed to "encourage citizens to take responsibility for the management of waste destined for landfill sites."
The other hope is to reduce the amount of domestic garbage being left in the public waste bins, the statement says.
"We know that actions in the field have been taken quickly and could have surprised some people. An awareness campaign is being prepared," the statement says.
This is pilot project to reduce waste in the Lachine Canal Historic Site, and the statement says, "waste management remains everyone's responsibility and duty."
Richard Shearmur, a McGill University urban planning professor, said this has been tried in other locations, such as national parks, where it has worked because people are educated about the policy as they enter the park.
In more urban areas, the practice is not so well adopted, he said. He cited the example of Ocean Beach in San Francisco. The National Park Service removed the bins in 2015, and not only did it upset people in the area, it was unclear if the move helped reduce littering, he said.
"In fact, people started piling the trash where the cans used to be," said Shearmur. "Eventually, two years later, the trash cans were put back."
Noting other such examples, he said it's not clear if removing bins is effective because it's difficult to gauge how much trash is collected in bins, versus how much ends up as litter. However, by only removing bins along only a section of the Lachine Canal, authorities will be able to compare the results to sections where bins remain in place, he said.
Having fewer trash cans can reduce vermin, he said, but at the same time, people may just toss their trash on the ground rather than wait until they find a bin.
with files from Sharon Yonan-Renold