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Toronto’s annual spring cleanup is April 19 to 22, 2024. Register for the Corporate 20-Minute Makeover, Community Cleanup Days or the School Cleanup Day. Find more information in the tabs below.

 

Gather your family, friends, neighbours and colleagues and help clean up litter in Toronto’s parks, beaches and other public spaces. Last year, over 1,000 cleanups took place across the city and over 70,000 residents and City staff pitched in. Working together we helped keep Toronto clean and green.

To take part this April, choose your event below.

 

The 20-Minute Makeover was created with Toronto businesses in mind but is open to everyone who prefers a weekday cleanup.

Joining is easy:

  • Select a public space that needs your help such as a park, sidewalk, ravine or beach.
  • Pick a 20-minute timeframe that works for your group. Many groups schedule a 2 p.m. cleanup.
  • Register your cleanup to avoid duplicate cleanups at the same location, and arrange for special litter collection, if required.
  • Gather supplies for your cleanup – you will need litter bags, gloves, trash grabbers (optional), hand sanitizer, and water/snacks.
  • Share a photo of your cleanup in progress – using hashtag #cleantoronto
  • Corporate groups are also welcome to hold an event on Monday, April 22 (Earth Day).

Safety tips and other guidance will be provided to all registered participants.

Register your corporate cleanup now.

On Saturday, April 20 and Sunday, April 21 community groups, families and individuals are encouraged to visit a local park or other public space to help clean up litter – such as small plastics, cans, bottles and other waste. Taking part is easy:

  • Select a public space that needs your help such as a park, sidewalk, ravine or beach.
  • Pick a time that works for you. We recommend a maximum of one hour.
  • Register your cleanup to avoid duplicate cleanups at the same location, and arrange for special litter collection, if required.
  • Gather supplies for your cleanup – you will need litter bags, gloves, trash grabbers (optional), hand sanitizer, and water/snacks.
  • Share a photo of your cleanup in progress – using hashtag #cleantoronto

Safety tips and other guidance will be provided to all registered participants.

Register your community cleanup now.

Celebrate Earth Day by spending 20-minutes cleaning up your schoolyard or a neighbourhood park.

Important information:

  • All Toronto schools, colleges and universities are welcome to join.
  • School cleanups should have approval from your school principal or property manager.
  • TDSB and TCDSB participants will be provided additional information where to get bags and gloves.
  • The City no longer provides free cleanup supply kits to schools.
  • Safety tips and waste sorting guides will be provided to all registered schools.

Register your school cleanup now.

  • Friday, April 19 at noon: Join Gibson House in cleaning up the natural areas and public spaces around the museum.
  • Saturday, April 20 at 10 a.m.: Join Colborne Lodge in High Park in beautifying this public space by cleaning up litter such as small plastics, cans, bottles and other waste.
  • Saturday, April 20 at 11 a.m.: Meet at Scarborough Museum in Thomson Memorial Park to clean up the gardens and natural landscape.
  • Saturday, April 20 at 10 a.m. Help clean up litter at Fort York’s historic west site to beautify part of this 43-acre archeological site.
  • Saturday, April 20 at 9:30 a.m.:  Meet at the front gates of Spadina Museum and help give this dazzling mansion’s lush gardens and surrounding area the spring cleanup it deserves.
  • Sunday, April 21 at 1:30 p.m.: Come to Montgomery’s Inn and join museum staff to help clean up the northern portion of Tom Riley Park. Enjoy a free cup of tea following the cleanup.
  • Sunday, April 21 at 10 a.m.: Work alongside the Wildflower Preserve volunteers and museum volunteers at Todmorden Mills to clean up the grounds and green spaces along Pottery Road.

Since 2004, the City of Toronto has held a city-wide spring cleanup weekend that brings together Toronto residents and community groups, schools, businesses and City staff to help clean litter from our public spaces, including parks, beaches and schoolyards. Toronto’s spring cleanup is the largest municipal cleanup in Canada.

To help co-ordinate the cleanups, the City offers online registration so that participants can book their cleanup location and request a special litter collection, if required.

Clean Toronto Together is currently without a major corporate sponsor. As a result, free garbage and recycling bags are no longer available. Participants are encouraged to reuse plastic bags from home for litter collection.

For more information, please contact cleantoronto@toronto.ca

  • Wear appropriate clothing and protection (long pants, long sleeves, boots, gloves, rain jacket, hat, sunscreen and insect repellent). Learn how to avoid tick bites.
  • Bring a first aid kit; students should be accompanied by a person trained in first aid.
  • Be mindful of vehicles when near or adjacent to a road.
  • Do not work on unstable or slippery ground (ravines, river banks), in tunnels, or near stormwater management ponds.
  • Only pick up litter. Leaves, twigs and plants can remain on the ground.
  • Avoid stepping on shrubs, bulbs, and flowers.
  • Do not pick up or move heavy objects such as tree limbs.
  • Do not pick up animal waste.
  • Do not pick up needles or other dangerous items (e.g. syringes, metal, chemicals, medical waste). Report the location of these items to 311.
  • Hazardous waste such as batteries, aerosol containers, lights and light bulbs, fluorescent tubes, helium and propane tanks/cylinders should be set aside from recycling and litter.
  • Report suspicious items to Toronto Police Service via their non-emergency telephone number at 416-808-2222.

Recycling Tips

  • Only put clean recycling in clear plastic bags, such as empty plastic bottles and aluminum cans.
  • Place dirty recyclables and wet papers in a litter bag.
  • Recyclables collected in a City park should be placed in or beside the large City Blue Bins in the park in clear plastic bags.

Household Hazardous Waste

  • Keep hazardous waste separate from garbage and recycling. Hazardous waste includes batteries, aerosol containers, lights and light bulbs, fluorescent tubes, helium and propane tanks/cylinders.
  • Do not pick up needles or other dangerous articles (e.g. syringes, metal, chemicals, medical waste) – report the location of these items to 311. School cleanup leaders may report this to their Superintendent or school caretakers.

Check the Waste Wizard or download the TOwaste app on your smartphone to find out how to properly dispose an item.

Clean Toronto Together – Photo Gallery