(Today’s Northumberland file photo)
The Town of Cobourg invites all community members to participate in the 16th annual Mayors’ Keep the County Clean Challenge, taking place April 19-25, 2026.
Community members are invited to register with the Town of Cobourg to help clean up litter in their neighbourhood, including roadsides, parks and trails.
Participants are asked to register online by filling out the form at www.Cobourg.ca/cleanup and select the location you would like to collect in. Full bags of litter may be left along the roadside of your clean-up area for Town staff to collect.
Please remember that large, hazardous, or dangerous items are not to be touched. If a dangerous item is found, please report back to the Town, and qualified staff will come to collect. Afterwards, log back onto the webpage to report where you left your garbage bags for pickup.
Supplies, including gloves, and garbage bags will be available to pick up from April 13 to 25 from the Cobourg Community Centre (750 D’Arcy Street), at the main reception desk, between 8:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m.
Municipalities with the highest proportional number of volunteers and the most litter collected per participant will be recognized with trophies at a County Council meeting. In 2025, a total of 2,472 registered volunteers across Northumberland County rolled up their sleeves to remove litter and illegal dumping from public spaces. The Town of Cobourg earned top honours last year in the category of ‘Highest Proportional Representation of Volunteers,’ with 5 per cent of our population taking part in the challenge.
Join the Mayor for a Community Clean-Up Help keep Cobourg clean, green, and welcoming by taking part in this year’s Community Clean-Up and Cigarette Butt Clean-Up. Join Mayor Lucas Cleveland on Sunday, April 19 at 10:00 a.m. at the Cobourg Marina (103 Third Street), where supplies will be provided.
Volunteers will work together to clean up parks, the waterfront, and the downtown core, with a special focus on removing cigarette waste, small litter that can have a big environmental impact. In partnership with A Greener Future, all collected cigarette butts will be recycled through the TerraCycle UNSMOKE Cigarette Recycling Program.
Bring your community spirit, lend a hand, and be part of making Cobourg shine.
Let’s Kick Butt Did you know that cigarette butts are the most-littered item in the world? About two-thirds of the six trillion cigarettes smoked each year end up in the environment.
Cigarette butts contain a plastic filter and the remnants of a smoked cigarette. The white filters that look like white cotton are actually cellulose acetate which breaks into microplastic fibres. Cellulose Acetate is difficult to degrade in the environment. Depending on where the cigarette butt is discarded, they take around 18 months to 10 years to break down, but they will not decompose naturally.
When these butts end up in water, they release nicotine, arsenic, tar, and even heavy metals. One littered cigarette butt can contaminate 1,000 litres of water.
The Town of Cobourg thanks all community members in advance who volunteer to help clean up our beautiful town.
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Author: Pete Fisher
Has been a photojournalist for over 30-years and have been honoured to win numerous awards for photography and writing over the years. Best selling author for the book Highway of Heroes - True Patriot Love
