This activity was organized in partnership with the City of Burnaby
Thank you to all of the community members who joined us!
Amy, Andrew W., Anna, Art, Ashley, Athena, Beste, Chanuka, Chris, Clarissa, Claudia, Cynthia, Daryl, Dayna, Dedipya, Delilah, Domi, Eunbee, Felix, Frank, George, Hee Su, Holly, James, Aurora, Justin, Kevin, Kushal, Leo, Lorena, Maeva, Mahfuzul, Mark, Milind, Myles, Nadia, Nan, Olaf, Olena, Paul, Philmo, Rachel L., Rachel B., Rebecca, Ryley, Shahnaz, Shawn, Shuka, Sophie, Steven, Sunny, Thonin, Umit, Sharon, Wilson, Yee Ka, Yi Ling, Lynne, Yoori, Yuira, Ivan, Mike, James, Richard, Daniel & Andre!
Thank you to our volunteer Litter Leaders who played a vital role in leading this community clean-up:
Jan, Gary, Kurtis, Andrew, Ryan & Lena!
Community Impacts
72 community members were engaged, contributing 237.5 hrs to environmental action!
- 68% visited the Willingdon Community Centre for the first time
- 47% cleaned up litter for the first time
40 participants completed a survey, and results showed:
- 93% felt inspired to take future environmental action
- 95% felt a sense of belonging & connection to others
- 98% felt their well-being improved
- 90% said time spent in nature contributed
- 83% said meeting people contributed
- 93% said helping the environment contributed
- 70% said being physically active contributed
- 95% increased their understanding of environmental issues
- 93% learned new things (e.g. impacts of litter)
- 93% developed new skills (e.g. teamwork & hands-on stewardship action)
Change starts with people. To have a lasting environmental impact, people need to feel connected, capable and empowered to take action.
Our activities are designed to increase:
- Community resilience & social connection
- Well-being through time in nature
- Participation in climate & environmental action
- Awareness of environmental issues
- Connection to local places & natural areas
- A culture of volunteerism & civic engagement
Environmental Impacts
- 303 lbs of litter were removed from our sidewalks, parks and roadsides!
- Over 8,600 pieces of litter were tracked and removed including:
- 5763 cigarette butts
- 796 food wrappers
- 848 bits of paper & cardboard
- 412 plastic bags
- 210 cups & lids
- 71 pieces of glass
- 69 bottles & cans
- 66 items of clothing/shoes
- 25 pieces of electronics
- 82 pieces of metal
- 148 pieces of styrofoam
- and more!
- Some interesting finds included:
- Suitcase
- McDonald’s Meal
- An iPhone
- Top Half of a Creepy Doll Toy
- Pacifiers
- Toothbrush & Floss
- Wireless Earbud Case
- Hubcap
- Pieces of a Construction Cone
- Blankets
- Socks, Shirts, & Sweaters
- Cigarette Lighters
- and more!
Highlights
- Community members joined us from across the Lower Mainland including from Burnaby itself, Vancouver, Bew Westminster, Surrey, Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam, North Vancouver, & West Vancouver!
- Environmental & social issues don’t have borders. By bringing together people from across the region, participants see others showing up to care for places beyond their own neighbourhoods. This reminds us that we share responsibility for the people & places around us, and that we’re all in this together!
- Many passersby thanked us & cheered us on for our work!
- Burnaby Mayor Mike Hurley, Councillor Richard T. Lee, Councillor James Wang, & Councillor Daniel Tetrault joined us to clean up litter and share their appreciation to everyone for coming together to take care of the community!
- The Mayor shared an inspiring speech about the importance of caring for one another and the places we live!
- Participants learned about the impacts litter can have on our wildlife, our communities, and our environment.
- Did you know that most stormwater runoff drains are unfiltered as they flow into our streams and rivers? Picking up this litter on an urban street helped to protect not only our vital urban waterways but even our oceans far away!
- It’s also been shown that people are more likely to litter in areas with litter already present and less likely where there isn’t. By cleaning some of these spaces, we’re helping to prevent future litter too!
- We enjoyed tracking the litter we picked up using our litter tracker app created by one of our own community members, Chris!
- Imagine the impacts if each person who joined us adopted their street or block!
- Learn more about and join the City of Burnaby’s Adopt a Street Program!
- Don’t live in Burnaby? Many municipalities and organizations have Adopt-a-Street or Adopt-a-Block programs. Reach out to your local municipality to learn about options where you live!
- Thank you to Lynne & the Vancouver International Volunteer Association for bringing a group to join us today, supporting our cleanups for yet another year!
- Many delicious snacks were enjoyed during our snack break, including fresh carrots & grapes, brownies, craft pretzels, strawberry biscoff bites, yogurt passionfruit gummies, and more!
- Special thank you to:
- Amy, Philmo, & others that helped pack up at the end of the activity!
- Our Litter Leaders Jan & Gary, Kurtis & Andrew, Ryan, & Lena
- Interested in helping as a Litter Leader yourself? Find more information here!
- People of all ages, backgrounds, abilities and experience levels came out including families, students, working professionals, retirees, first timers, returning LMGTers and newcomers!
- This is our 4th year of running litter cleanups with the City of Burnaby! Check out summaries from some of our previous Litter Clean-ups:
What Community Members Said
27 participants shared what this activity meant to them:
Video of Nadia, Maeve (& Ruby!), speaking about why they have loved coming out for 4 years to connect with their community and keep their community clean!
Video of youth participants, speaking about participating in a fulfilling day helping their community!
Community Investment Partner
Delivered in partnership with the City of Burnaby, our Community Investment Partner.
Green Teams of Canada and the City of Burnaby are working together to achieve our shared environmental and community objectives.
The City provides direction, while we bring expertise in community engagement – mobilizing people to take meaningful environmental action and inspiring future stewardship.
This partnership includes financial investment from the City to build connection, improve well-being, and create lasting environmental and community impact.
Special thanks to City staff Zac for his valued contributions in bringing this activity to life.
This is the 1st of 4 litter cleanups and 3rd of 8 activities we’re organizing with the City in 2026!
In-Kind Support
Thank you Lush for providing their bath bombs & soaps prioritizing fresh ingredients, minimal packaging & no animal testing as in-kind support for this activity!
When socially and environmentally conscious businesses provide in-kind rewards for our community members, it helps us encourage local and responsible consumption beyond our activities.
Businesses can also further enable us to run high-quality, safe and impactful activities by providing gift cards, refreshments, tools, gloves, and other supplies.
If you’re interested in contributing in-kind or have ideas for potential partnerships, please contact Ashton Kerr.
Staff Who Made This Activity Possible
Our dedicated staff are passionate about community engagement and environmental action. Their work includes extensive outreach, activity logistics, social media, reporting on impacts, partnership building and MUCH more!
This activity was run by Max Muehlen, our Lower Mainland Green Team’s Program Manager with support from Ashton Kerr, the Acting Partnerships & Programs Director
We Are All In This TOGETHER! The Future Depends on Us
The Lower Mainland Green Team is a program of the charity Green Teams of Canada, engaging communities in hands-on environmental action since 2011.
We bring people together to improve well-being and inspire environmental stewardship. Through activities like invasive plant removal, native species planting, and litter clean-ups, participants take practical action and see the impact they can make.
What sets us apart is our focus on people. Our activities are inclusive and accessible to all ages, abilities and experience levels, especially those new to environmental action. Many join for the first time, deepen their understanding of environmental issues and leave feeling capable and motivated to take future action.
We also strengthen and support the broader stewardship network by working with governmental agencies, non-profits, land trusts, volunteer-led groups, schools, and businesses, bringing new people into existing efforts and expanding their reach. Many participants go on to deepen their involvement, take on leadership roles, or contribute to other initiatives.
We believe lasting environmental change starts with people. By creating meaningful opportunities for people to take part, we help build more connected, resilient communities.
We can all make a difference!