Click on the various tab headings to discover important information and handy tips to support your successful clean up!

Great for families, friends, neighbourhoods, schools, groups and businesses.

Spend quality time with your loved ones taking local eco-action with this safe outdoor activity.  A great way to connect with nature while getting some exercise too.

Great for businesses!
A rewarding opportunity to gather your team or coworkers for a safe outdoor team-building activity that helps both the environment and the community. Are you currently working remotely? No problem! You can still be physically apart AND work collectively to help clean up beautiful Burlington – have team members complete their own litter clean-ups at home on behalf of your workplace, team or business. Gather photos from everyone’s clean up and see just how BIG your impact can be! Discover more corporate programming opportunities here.

Great for the classroom + volunteer hours for participating high school students!
Whether you are in a classroom or online learning, Community Clean Up provides a valuable opportunity for teachers and students to safely get outside, get some exercise and help the local environment too. Organize a clean-up with your class, or encourage parents to organize a family clean-up at home. Make it an exciting class project and encourage students to take photos of the litter they collect. High school students can earn volunteer hours and we have a great complement of resources to support related curriculum.

Want to pump up your impact to help the planet locally?

Check out our Litter League Fundraising Challenge here!

1. Determine a safe location in Burlington that your family, friends, coworkers, community group or classroom would like to clean up. Check out the map further below on the webpage for locations and dates of various community clean ups. Avoid overlap for your clean up or do your clean up on a different day. Tip: check out the “Litter Hotspots” tab for some locations in Burlington that typically require a clean up, and which areas to avoid.

2. Review the important Clean Up Tips sheet and share it with your group participants for safety and waste collection information tips. Ensure the Informed Consent To Participate (see *Waiver tab) is reviewed and agreed to by all of your activity participants. 

3. Register your clean up at the BLUE BUTTON BELOW.

Your group, school, family or business name and your clean up date and location will be added to our Community Clean Up map below to help avoid overlapping activities.

We encourage you to use your own clean-up supplies (reusable gloves and buckets or garbage bags), however, you can request free clean-up supplies for your group. (Thank you BUNZL Canada) Supplies are available for pick-up at our supply depot (while quantities last):

• Burlington Centre: available at Guest Services anytime during hours of operation
• Nature’s Emporium: available in-store anytime during hours of operation
• BurlingtonGreen Eco-Hub (1094 Lakeshore Road): inquire in advance for our hours of operation

4. Have a fun and safe Clean Up. Count the number of full bags of litter you collected and take a photo of your group with your collected litter. 

5. Share your data and photos. After you register your clean up with us, you will receive a confirmation email with instructions about submitting your clean up results and how to send us your clean up team photo. BONUS: everyone who sends us their collection results or a photo of their clean up, will be entered into a draw for a chance to win a BG Eco-prize pack! And, if you choose to post your clean up photo on social media, be sure to tag us and include #CUGU2026

Note: The submission of photos provides permission to BurlingtonGreen to use your photos in print, or in digital materials including social media platforms with permission to edit, alter, copy, or distribute the photos for media advertising and marketing)

That’s it!  By participating,  you are contributing to a city-wide effort for a cleaner, beautiful Burlington.

Important:

• Clean ups taking place on private property and school property must be either disposed through their waste collection services or brought home and disposed of through regular curbside collection.

  If your clean up is taking place on city property and you compile 5 bags or more or larger items you can’t take home with you, and you would like city staff to pick up your collected waste, please be sure to include this information during registration. Specific location of piles must be provided and piles must be left within 3m of a road or parking lot for access.

  If there are changes to your registration and you would like a waste pick up or no longer require a pick up, please notify us at cugu@burlingtongreen.org.

The community’s health and safety is of utmost importance to us, please follow Halton COVID-19 safety guidelines to ensure your personal safety and those around you prior to choosing to participate in any eco-activities or tips shared by BurlingtonGreen.

The areas you clean up must be without safety hazards, and safe to access and carry out your litter collection activities.

Review the Clean Up Tips sheet  and share it with your group participants for important safety and waste collection information tips.

Ensure the Informed Consent To Participate waiver (below) is reviewed and agreed to by all of your activity participants. 

More Safety tips:

Hazardous items

Do not allow participants to pick up anything that could be hazardous to their health. This includes:

If you come across any hazardous items, flag them and call the City of Burlington at 905-335-7777

INFORMED CONSENT TO PARTICIPATE

The safety of everyone who participates in volunteer activities is extremely important. Please read the safety and risk information below. Community members, volunteers, group leaders, referenced as “Participant”, (individually or collectively), must fully understand and agree to the following before participating in activities.

1. Assumption of Risk: The Participant voluntarily assumes and accepts all risks, dangers or hazards arising out of, associated with or related to their participation in this activity. These risks, dangers or hazards, whether leading up to, during or after the activity, include injury, disability, illness, disease, death, and loss, theft or damage of personal property. The participant remises, releases, and forever discharges BurlingtonGreen and The Corporation of the City of Burlington, and its elected officials, employees, successors, and assigns of and from all manner of action, causes of action, suits, proceedings, debts, dues, duties, accounts, covenants, claims, demands, damages (known or unknown), and liabilities whatsoever in law or at equity which the participant and his or her heirs, executors, administrators or assignees had, now have or hereafter may have against said persons in connection with or as a consequence of participating in this activity.
2. Responsibility: It is acknowledged that no remuneration, salary, wage or payment or any employee benefits whatsoever will be received for participating in the activity and the participant will therefore not be covered by Workplace and Safety Insurance Coverage and Benefits.
3. Consent: Participants under the age of 18 years of age are required to have parental/guardian consent to participate.
4. Supervision: Supervision of participants 13 years of age or under during this activity is the sole responsibility of the parent/guardian/teacher/school or event organizer.
   • Elements of Risk and Safety: All participants will wear Personal Protective Equipment (protective gloves and closed-toed footwear that is fully laced), and understand the elements of risk including:
   • The risks associated with natural areas including slippery conditions, exposure to plants such as poison ivy and stinging nettle, stinging and biting insects(such as ticks), branch/tree failure, and uneven ground.
   • There are risks associated with activities located along roadsides, trails, and other places where vehicles are present (e.g. parking lots, off or on-ramp  areas adjacent to highways, etc.). Participants should not be near roads or other areas where collisions between pedestrians and other modes of travel can take place.
   • Inherent hazards may exist at sites including SHARPS (i.e. needles), which can cause a cut, puncture, or abrasion.

     Participants are NOT to pick up any SHARPS including broken glass, wood, needles, metal, large/heavy items.

THE PARTICIPANT UNDERSTANDS AND AGREES TO THE ABOVE WAIVER AND RELEASE OF LIABILITY AND ASSUMPTION OF RISKS IN ITS ENTIRETY AND HEREBY CONSENTS TO PARTICIPATE ACKNOWLEDGING ALL OF THE FOREGOING.

Here are some possible clean-up hotspots that your family or group may want to voluntarily and safely clean up and we invite you to continue to register your clean up activity with us.

It is strongly recommended that your group leader scout out the area in person, in advance, before organizing your clean-up, to ensure there is enough litter to clean up, and that the area is safe for all your participants and on suitable terrain. Stay well clear of roadways and watch for pedestrians and cyclists on any nearby sidewalks. Safety glasses are recommended when working near trees and bushes.

Have you spotted a location in Burlington that can use a litter clean up? If so, please report the litter hotspot here.

A few tips on finding a clean-up location:

• Avoid choosing the Burlington Beach and Spencer Smith Park in April, as these areas are popular and ​get well-covered. Meanwhile, other areas of the city that really need a clean-up may go uncleaned. See our Litter Hotspot list for some suggested locations you can scout out.
  
  
• Check greenspaces near to plazas, since they are often litter traps that could use a cleaning.
  
  
• If you are participating as a business group, first check if your own property needs a clean-up, and also check any nearby public greenspaces and creeks. Often, greenspace areas in commercial parts of the city get missed and could use a clean-up.
  
  
• Save schoolyards and parks adjacent to schools for those school groups to clean, since many schools participate each spring. If by late April, they haven’t cleaned it and are not registered on the clean-up map, your group can register to clean it up.

Once you’ve identified a possible location, check our registration map to ensure no other group has registered that spot yet, then register your clean-up!

Completed your clean up? 

Please click here to share your results. You’ll be entered into a draw for a chance to win an eco-prize!

Frequently Asked Questions:

Do you provide clean-up supplies?

Yes! You are encouraged to use your own supplies, but we do have a limited supply of disposable gloves, garbage and recycling bags available for pick up at a few Burlington locations. If you require supplies, please be sure to indicate this during registration. Supplies will be available while quantities last.

Where and when can I pick up supplies?

Supplies are available for pick-up at our supply depots. Please be sure to check hours of operation before going to pick up supplies.

• Burlington Centre: available at Guest Services anytime during hours of operation

   

• Nature’s Emporium: available in-store anytime during hours of operation

   

• BurlingtonGreen Eco-Hub (1094 Lakeshore Road): inquire in advance for our hours of operation

I am a student, can this count toward my volunteer community service hours?

Yes! Please let us know at the time of registration that you are a student and will be claiming volunteer hours. We will require you to complete our data submission form and send an email with photos of your clean up, location of your clean up and your volunteer hours form.

A typical clean up is approximately 1-3 hours.
*Note that clean ups must take place in Burlington to be eligible for community service hours. 

What if I arrive and my clean up site is already clean?

We do our best to oversee clean up registrations to ensure that groups are not cleaning up the same site at the same time. However, sometimes groups plan their own clean up without registering or informing us about their plans. You may wish to visit your chosen site a day or two before your clean up to assess if it requires cleaning, as well as checking if nearby areas and parks may also be potential clean up spots.

Why does litter end up in the community anyway? And what else can I do to help?

We can all help in the reduction of litter in our communities in various ways.  Reducing the amount we purchase and the volume of packaging on products is important.  Visit our ” 8 R’s of Low Waste Living” resource for helpful tips.

Additionally, a great deal of litter we see in our community comes from our own homes and businesses. Often this happens on windy days and when recycling and garbage bins are not properly secure. Check out this helpful video on how to properly secure recycling bins and limit the amount of “blow away garbage.”

When you are away from home always be sure to place waste in waste receptacles and secure your waste in a pocket or bag until you have access to the proper waste receptacle.

Always put cigarette waste in designated bins or take them home with you, please don’t leave them on trails, parks and in the community.

Have any further questions? Reach out to us at cugu@burlingtongreen.org