Let’s Clean Together as a Community

A heartfelt thank you extends to all the residents, businesses, schools, and dedicated volunteers who united with us  in this community clean-up drive.

Over the course of this impactful event, spanning Friday through Sunday, more than 1,000 cleanups unfolded throughout the city. A remarkable turnout of over 70,000 volunteers generously contributed their time and efforts to tackle litter across Toronto’s parks, beaches, and various public spaces.

As we cherish the collective achievements of this event, let’s uphold the spirit of civic responsibility beyond these dates. Whenever you encounter litter, kindly deposit it where it belongs – inside any of the City’s street or park garbage bins. Together, we can ensure Toronto remains a clean and verdant haven throughout the entire year!

20-Minute City Makeover

The 20-Minute City Makeover, part of the spring cleanup weekend, welcomes participants for a quick and impactful cleanup, originally designed for Toronto businesses but open to all seeking a weekday initiative.

Clean-Up Drives for the Community

During the spring cleanup weekend, community groups, families, and individuals are encouraged to participate in litter cleanup at local parks or public spaces on Saturday and Sunday.

Clean-Up Events for Schools

The City invites the assistance of students, schools, colleges, and universities in maintaining Toronto’s cleanliness. Mobilize students and staff to dedicate a 20-minute effort to clean up either your schoolyard or a nearby neighborhood park.

All About Toronto’s Clean-Up Program

Since 2004, the City of Toronto has annually organized a city-wide spring cleanup weekend, uniting residents, community groups, schools, businesses, and City staff to collectively address litter in public spaces such as parks, beaches, and schoolyards. Recognized as the largest municipal cleanup initiative in Canada, Toronto’s spring cleanup has become a community-driven tradition.

To streamline the cleanup efforts, the City provides online registration, allowing participants to secure their cleanup location and request special litter collection services if needed.

It’s important to note that Clean Toronto Together currently lacks a major corporate sponsor, resulting in the unavailability of free garbage and recycling bags. Participants are encouraged to repurpose plastic bags from home for their litter collection activities.

Safety Tips During the Clean-Up Events

• Wear comfortable and protective clothing fit for a clean-up activity such as hats, gloves, boots, jackets, and so on.
• Bring a first aid kit. Be with someone who knowns how to administer first aid.
• Be mindful of vehicles along the roads.
• Do not work on unstable or slippery grounds like river banks, tunnels, and ravines.
• Only pick up litter. Don’t pick up leaves, twigs, and plants.
• Don’t step on shrubs flowers, and bulbs.
• Do not pick up or move heavy objects such as tree limbs.
• Do not pick up dangerous items such as needles, syringes, chemicals, metal, and medical waste. Report the location of these items to the event representatives.
• Set aside from litter and recycling items such as aerosols, fluorescent tubes, batteries, propane tanks, and helium.
• Report suspicious items to Toronto Police Service or the event representatives.

Recycling Tips for You

• Place only clean recycling, like aluminum cans and empty plastic bottles, in the blue bags.
• Put dirty recyclables, metal, and wet papersin the litter bag.
• Recyclables gathered in a City park should be deposited in or beside the appropriate bins.
• Research about what items can and cannot be recycled.

What to Do With Hazardous Waste?

To ensure proper waste management, it is crucial to separate hazardous waste from regular garbage and recycling materials. Hazardous waste items encompass:

• aerosol containers
• batteries
• compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs)
• helium and propane tanks/cylinders
• fluorescent tubes
• needles
• syringes

Exercise caution and refrain from handling dangerous articles such as chemicals, metaland medical waste, and syringes and needles. Instead, promptly report the location your local government. School cleanup leaders are encouraged to inform their Superintendent about any encountered hazardous materials during the cleanup activities.