Organizing a Neighborhood Clean-up Event

  1. Organizing the Event
  2. Contacting Solid Waste Dept.
  3. Using Street for Collection
Organizing a neighborhood clean-up is a wonderful opportunity to get to know your neighbors and beautify your neighborhood at the same time. Below are some suggestions from the Office of Neighborhood Services for planning and implementing a neighborhood cleanup.
  • Consider using a site large enough (parking lot of a school, church, or other large paved area.) to accommodate trash being collected without adversely affecting traffic flowing in and out of the location.  Make certain you get permission to hold your event there
  • Arrange to complete the event in one day - preferably beginning early in the morning and concluding around lunch time
  • Have a first aid kit on hand at the event
  • Promote your event to as many neighborhood residents as possible to make them aware that the event has been scheduled; distribute flyers or postcards, send emails, post on social media, and tweet messages.
  • Arrange to have as many volunteers as possible to help on the day of the clean-up; specific volunteers can be assigned different duties during the event, such as:
    • Have a map available of your neighborhood's clean-up area of focus to help you keep track of areas that have been addressed vs. those that have not
    • Oversee the registration and assignment of participants to the tasks at hand
    • Supervise the clean-up of the location after the event leaving it cleaner than you found it
  • Following the event, consider organizing a social event for everyone participating as a thank you; pizza or ice cream always hit the spot after a hard day at a neighborhood clean-up.