Tim Hortons we need to talk…
Tim Hortons is the number #1 brand that we find in our garbage clean ups.
In a 2023 study, our volunteers picked up 3000+ cups and lids in a 600m radius around one Tim Hortons store within one day.
“It’s the Customers’ fault” says Tim Hortons management.
Tim Hortons is a Canadian company that each year produces billions of single-use cups and lids that end up in our parks, wild spaces, and rivers. A cup can take 30 years to decompose and a lid hundreds of years. That’s billions of cups and lids lasting hundreds of years. Yet Tim Hortons has no strategy to encourage their customers to dispose of their waste. Why? Because Tim Hortons doesn’t feel responsible.
Numerous efforts by Don’t Mess with the Don to engage in a discussion about solutions to this problem have resulted in nothing . We even hand-delivered letters to their president, but received no response. It’s time to set Tim Hortons straight. This is why we need your help.
What is our goal?
We need to create a critical mass of messages for Tim that will force them to listen, and start a dialogue with us. We have strategies for a campaign to reduce irresponsible littering by customers, which are outlined in our letter to Tim, but it all needs to start with a dialogue. If enough people tell Tim Hortons they need to talk to Don’t Mess with the Don, and take responsibility for the massive waste problem that they and their customers are creating, Tim will have to act.
How can you help?
Write a letter to Tim Horton’s headquarters to tell them they need to address the tremendous amount of waste their customers are causing, and they can’t hide behind the argument that it’s all the customers fault. Tell them to respond to Don’t Mess with the Don’s request for a meeting, and work with us on creating a campaign to reduce litter.
Tim Hortons Headquarters
Exchange Tower at 130 King Street West,
Toronto, ON M5X 1E1Submit a message on our Tim Let’s Talk Campaign Website and share it on social media
Call Tim Hortons at 1-888-601-1616 to give your feedback
Share the Campaign Video and Campaign Website
Fill out the Tim Hortons Contact Form
Stay up to date with our campaign! Join our campaign mailing list.
Timeline
April 18, 2018 Don’t Mess with the Don started doing clean-up events and consistently picked up large amounts of Tim Hortons litter, identifying it as one of the most polluting brands.
April 13, 2022 Don’t Mess with the Don was approached by Hortons’ marketing company Diamond Marketing Group who offered to provide free Tim Hortons coffee for our clean up in exchange for social media coverage. We respectfully declined and explained that we would like to first have a conversation with Tim Hortons about their customers’ waste and what we can do together to reduce it. We never heard back.
February 19, 2023 - DMWTD conducted a site study to count Tim Hortons garbage in a 600 meter radius of one Tim Hortons store near the Don Valley. 7 volunteers spent 7 hours picking up over 3000 cups and lids.
May 17, 2023 Don’t Mess with the Don wrote a letter to Tim Hortons president Axel Schwan and Sr. Director Paul Yang which was hand delivered at Tim Hortons Headquarters.
June 7, 2023 Since we received no response, DMWTD again hand delivered the letter to Axel Schwan and Paul Yang, and this time with a personal note to urge them to respond.
May - June, 2023 DMWTD tried 7 different Tim Hortons phone numbers and spoke to various store managers but could not get through to an executive. We were told by receptionists that there was ‘no outside line for headquarters’, and there was ‘no way to reach an executive’ by phone.
June 21, 2024 DMWTD reached out to Tim’s Guest Services via their online query with a request for information on what Tim is doing to reduce customer littering. The answer was “your inquiry is sadly outside of our scope.”
June 21, 2024 DMWTD published the letter that was sent to Tim Hortons in 2023 online
June 24, 2024 DMWTD launched the campaign ‘Tim Let’s Talk’
July 16, 2024 DMWTD spoke on NEWSTALK 1010 to spread the word about the campaign. Listen back here.
July 18, 2024 Tim Hortons reached out to Don’t Mess with the Don by phone and agreed to a meeting in person
July 19, 2024 DMWTD featured in CBC news article and video.
July 29, 2024 DMWTD board members met with Tim Hortons at their head quarters in Toronto to discuss the problem of Tim’s litter, and potential ways to work together towards a solution
