KITCHENER -- A man in Centre Wellington is cleaning up his neighbourhood, collecting garbage wherever he goes.

Tyler Bowley's efforts have transformed into an awareness campaign in his community.

Bowley says he goes out to collect litter two or three times a week.

"I walk in a zig-zag, because usually you won't necessary see it, you'll hear it, you'll step on it," he explained.

He then takes the litter home for sorting.

"It's an astronomical amount," Bowley said. "The scary part is most of those empties are from a parking lot."

Once it's collected and sorted, he takes it away.

"A lot of the plastic goes to a recycler in Fergus," he said. "All the empties, like the liquor bottles and everything like that go up to my neighbour and he uses it for gas money."

Bowley started collecting litter back in March from the ditch in front of his house. He said he was concerned about the amount of pollution and the impact the garbage may have on wildlife in the area.

"If it's here and I'm 10 to 15 [kilometres] from the nearest town, how much more is out there?" Bowley said.

Bowley has now set out to clean up a 15-kilometre stretch along Wellington Road 16 and going into parks in Elora and Fergus. He posted photos on social media, gaining attention and support from the community.

"I want people to start doing this on their own," he said. "If I can do this much, imagine what 10, 15, 20, 30 people can do," he said.

Save Our Water, an environmental advocacy group, is answering the call.

"I went out and visited him and took some of the things I've been collecting from Bissel Park, and we're going to do a challenge to help him out," Donna McCaw said.

McCaw said the group plans to formally launch a campaign in the fall, with a goal of cleaning up the areas before winter hits.
"When you go for a walk, take your gloves and something to carry things in and just collect things," McCaw said.

Kendra Martin with the Township of Centre Wellington said there are a number of county and township roads affected by garbage.

The county is developing an anti-littering campaign which should be ready for next spring.

Martin said the county is aware some people aren't using garbage cans, since they aren't overflowing when staff go to clean them on the weekends.

The campaign will focus on reminding people to take their litter with them until they can find a garbage can.