News Release
April 24, 2020

The City of Toronto will have a targeted spring cleanup taking place across the city over the next few weeks.

Spring cleanup activities include:
• Illegal dumping cleanup
• Boulevard and laneway cleaning
• Litter and debris removal in parks
• Fence-line litter clearing
• Street sweeping to clean up dirt and debris from Toronto’s streets.

Unfortunately, the annual Clean Toronto Together community cleanup campaign was cancelled due to COVID-19.

During the pandemic, the City has been working hard to keep public spaces clean and safe. Staff are out each day picking up litter, emptying street and park waste bins and sweeping streets.

Litter can have harmful effects on the environment and pose risks to both animals and people. There has been an increase in the littering of personal protective equipment, such as masks and gloves, in Toronto’s public spaces. The public can do their part to help keep Toronto clean and safe by properly disposing of items in available street and park bins and not littering items on the ground. The public can also report litter hot spots to 311.

If residents find personal protective equipment or other trash discarded on their property, they are advised to use gloves to pick it up and to discard it in the garbage, along with the gloves and then wash their hands.

Quotes:

“I’m proud to announce today that a targeted spring cleanup will take place across Toronto over the next few weeks. I sincerely thank our frontline workers who are stepping up to make sure our city remains clean and safe during the COVID-19 emergency.”
– Mayor John Tory

“Our priority right now – as always – is to have a safe, clean city we are all proud of. The spring cleanup has always been a great success and I appreciate the volunteerism it brings out across the city. Our parks are greatly valued, and we all want to take care of them, but personal and community safety comes first. We hope to reschedule these events at a future date when and if our healthcare professionals feel it is safe to do so.”
– Councillor James Pasternak, York Centre (Ward 6), Chair of the Infrastructure and Environment Committee

Toronto is home to more than 2.9 million people whose diversity and experiences make this great city Canada’s leading economic engine and one of the world’s most diverse and livable cities. As the fourth largest city in North America, Toronto is a global leader in technology, finance, film, music, culture and innovation, and consistently places at the top of international rankings due to investments championed by its government, residents and businesses. For more information visit toronto.ca or follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/CityofToronto, on Instagram at instagram.com/cityofto or on Facebook at facebook.com/cityofto.

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