Final Two Weeks of Peterborough’s Writing Instrument Challenge

Community Push Needed to Reach 50,000 Item Goal Before End of June – we need your help!

Peterborough’s Writing Instrument Recycling Challenge is entering its final phase, with just 14 days remaining to reach a community-wide goal of collecting 50,000 used writing instruments. The initiative, launched on June 1, has already resulted in the setup of more than 80 collection locations across the City and County of Peterborough.

The challenge is part of a national recycling program operated by TerraCycle Canada in partnership with Staples Canada, which allows individuals, schools, and organizations to divert used pens, markers, mechanical pencils, and other writing instruments from landfill. The program is offered at no cost, with all materials recycled into new plastic products.

Since the local challenge was announced on May 20, support has grown significantly:

• All eight townships in the County of Peterborough are now represented with public drop-off locations.

• Multiple City of Peterborough facilities are accepting items.

• 38 public schools from the Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board are actively collecting.

• 14 businesses across the City have added public drop-off bins.

• Several large employers have launched internal staff collection drives.

Despite strong uptake, collection numbers remain well below target, and organizers are urging the public to participate before the end of the school year.

“The last day of school is June 26, and that’s a perfect opportunity for all local schools—public, Catholic, private, elementary, secondary, and preschool—to join in,” said Steve Paul, organizer of the challenge and founder of Clean Up Peterborough. “It’s easy to participate: just set up a bin, send out a call to students and families, and we’ll take care of the pickup and counting.”

Paul noted that many local businesses have joined voluntarily, but he hopes to see more involvement in the coming days.

“Some businesses have challenged others, or invited staff to bring in used items from home. It’s a great way to engage customers and employees, and show that recycling doesn’t have to be complicated,” he said. “If we reach our 50,000-item goal, I’ll return to CBC Radio and publicly challenge other Canadian cities to beat our total.”

The program is open to anyone in the community. Households, workplaces, and organizations are encouraged to collect from family, friends, or customers and drop items off at any public collection point listed on the community map.

View the drop-off map:
https://tinyurl.com/4tbw4fnx

Accepted items include all brands of used pens, permanent markers, dry-erase markers, highlighters and mechanical pencils. Items such as wooden pencils, crayons, glue sticks, erasers, and scissors are not accepted.

Final collection totals will be announced in July to allow time for coordinated pickups from across the region.

This initiative is supported locally by the City of Peterborough, Peterborough County, kawarthaNOW and Volunteer Peterborough.