This activity was organized in partnership with the City of Burnaby
Thank you to all of the community members who joined us!
Aaron, Aine, Allison, Amanda, Amos K., Amos, Amy, Andrew H., Andrew W., Angel, Annabelle, Art, Athena, Aureus, Cailey, Cameron, Celine, Christopher, Connor, Cove, Dan, Debbie, Diamond, Etsuko, Fernando, Finnley, Fiona, Gary, Hank, Helen, Ian, Jack, Jan, Jane, James, Jarod, Jessica, Jingjing (Bella), Joshua, Julian, Kai, Kazusa, Kevin, Kurtis, Kushal, Larry, Lauryn, Leyla, Liane, Lisa, Lucas, Maddie, Mahmood, Malina, Maria C., Maria, P., Mark, Mary, Mayu, Mike, Mira, Mohamed, Nick, Nobu, Olivia, Owen, Patricia, Philmo, Quinn C., Quinn G., Racheal, Rachel, Raika, Rami, Ramin, Rosanna, Rouge, Ryan, Sammi, Shota, Stanley, Stefanie, Stella, Stephen, Sydney, Tessa, Wil, YongLin (Lynne), Yuchen (Mira), Zixin (Stella) & Zoila!
Thank you to our volunteer Litter Leaders who played a vital role in leading this community clean-up:
Kurtis, Andrew, Amos, Jan, Gary, Ryan, Connor, Leyla, Aureus, Mohamed & Jarod!
Community Impacts
92 community members were engaged, contributing 289 hrs to environmental action!
- 71% visited the Cameron Elementary School for the first time
- 47% cleaned up litter for the first time
37 participants completed a survey, and results showed:
- 100% felt inspired to take future environmental action
- 100% felt a sense of belonging & connection to others
- 100% felt their well-being improved
- 86% said helping the environment contributed
- 86% said being physically active
- 81% said time spent outside/in nature contributed
- 78% said meeting other people contributed
- 97% increased their understanding of environmental issues
- 97% learned new things (e.g. about litter, how this work supports community well-being, how to care for the environment, & what they can personally do to make a difference)
- 89% developed new skills (e.g. teamwork & communicating with others, & applying new info)
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 10,000 pieces of litter were tracked & removed including:
- 6,061 cigarette butts
- 1,352 food wrappers
- 1,086 bits of paper & cardboard
- 575 plastic bags
- 311 cups & lids
- 229 bottles & cans
- 163 pieces of glass
- 97 pieces of metal
- 79 pieces of styrofoam
- 19 items of clothing/shoes
- 16 pieces of electronics
- Some interesting finds included:
- An abandoned vehicle with plants growing on it
- 2 hubcaps from different cars
- Airpod
- Broken umbrella
- Coat hangers
- IKEA flooring
- Butane cans from the explosive truck fire days earlier
- Swiffer mop head
- Toy from the movie Cars
- Rolling office chair
- Kid’s dinosaur costume
- Dog figurine
- Sweatpants
- Fireworks
- Key
- Construction ear protection
- Half a Pokemon card
- Work boot
- Mattress cover
- Electric scooter with it’s brakes cut
- 100 dollar Monopoly bill
- Windshield wipers
- Fake pearl
- Couch
- Sprinkler head
- USB sticks
- A LOT of shopping carts
- Teacup set
- And much more!
Highlights
- Community members joined us from across the Lower Mainland including from Burnaby itself, Vancouver, New Westminster, Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam, Port Moody, Surrey, White Rock, Richmond & North 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!
- Burnaby Mayor Mike Hurley, & Councillor Richard T. Lee joined us to share their appreciation to everyone for coming together to take care of the community and to cleanup litter!
- We tackled litter in places where litter often accumulates but is hard to reach, such as in bushes!
- Passersby thanked us and honked in their cars and gave us thumbs up while driving by our teams!
- 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 sometimes forget that we are part of nature, and that litter isn’t just bad for the health of our environment, but our own health too!
- We tracked 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!
- Many delicious snacks were enjoyed during our snack break, including homemade vegan brownies, carrots & cucumbers, Pickle-licious chips, lemon biscotti, trail mix, granola bars, garlic pretzel twists, juice and more!
- Special thank you to:
- Our Litter Leaders Kurtis, Andrew, Amos, Jan, Gary, Ryan, Connor, Leyla, Aureus, Mohamed & Jarod for playing an essential role in helping create a safe and positive experience for everyone at this activity, arriving early and staying late to help with setup and takedown, helping welcome and check out people, take photos and more!
- Interested in helping as a volunteer Litter Leader for next year’s cleanups? Find more information here!
- The many people who shared kind words about their experience with us!
- Our Litter Leaders Kurtis, Andrew, Amos, Jan, Gary, Ryan, Connor, Leyla, Aureus, Mohamed & Jarod for playing an essential role in helping create a safe and positive experience for everyone at this activity, arriving early and staying late to help with setup and takedown, helping welcome and check out people, take photos and more!
- 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 other 3 cleanups this year
What Community Members Said
22 participants shared what this activity meant to them:
Video of Joshua speaking about recently moving to Burnaby, meeting new people, picking up trash, laughing with others and having a wonderful experience during his first time with us!
Video of Diamond speaking about giving back to the community, the interesting distribution of litter, and wanting to talk to friends who smoke about the importance of properly disposing of cigarette butts!
Video of Olivia speaking about her first time with the team and finding interesting things!
Video of Jack speaking about getting moving and helping the community!
Video of Maria speaking about cleaning up the area where they live and walk everyday, and having a better impact on the environment!
Video of Zoila speaking about being new to BC and Burnaby, connecting with her community!
Video of Jessica & Quinn speaking about their first time doing the cleanup and definitely wanting to do this again!
Video of Lisa speaking about wanting to do something to give back to the community and meeting great people!
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 and Jaz for their valued contributions in making this activity possible including the creation of our litter zones, pickup and disposal of all waste, leadership with community members and more!
This was the last of 4 litter cleanups and 6th 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.
GTC 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 Director of Partnerships & Programs, Ashton Kerr and Lower Mainland Green Team Program Manager, Paige Hunter!
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!