This activity was organized in partnership with the City of Burnaby
Thank you to all of the community members who joined us!
Abdulraheem, Allan, Amos, Anna, Art, Arthur, Aubrey, Aureus, Beste, Bonita, Courtney, Daniel, Debbie, Diana, Edit, Ehsan, Emilia, Emily, Etsuko, Fellix, Fiorella, Fuzuki, Gary, Gigi, Giselle, Gregory, Hyemin, Isaac, James, Jan, Jarod, Jenny S., Jenny W., Jminn, John, Julian, Kimmy, Kushal, Larry, Leyla, Loretta, Madis, Mary Blanca, Mikayla, Milind, Mohamed, Nathan, Nick, Nobu, Patricia, Paul, Quan Cheng, Rachel, Renate, Rosanna, Ryan, Sammi, Samuel, Sejin, Shawn, Shivani, Surabhi, Sydney, Takayuki, Tamanna, Tristan, Tyler, Udit, Xiaoju, & YongLin (Lynne)!
Thank you to our volunteer Litter Leaders who played a vital role in leading this community clean-up:
Amos, Jan, Gary, Ryan & Jarod!
Community Impacts
72 community members were engaged, contributing 220 hrs to environmental action!
- 58% visited the Edmonds Community Centre for the first time
- 38% cleaned up litter for the first time
34 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
- 79% said time spent outside/in nature contributed
- 79% said meeting people contributed
- 76% said helping the environment contributed
- 100% increased their understanding of environmental issues
- 94% learned new things (e.g. how to care for the environment, about litter, how this work supports community well-being, & how environmental activities like this are planned & run)
- 88% 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
- 291 lbs of litter were removed from our sidewalks, parks and roadsides!
- Over 11,493 pieces of litter were tracked & removed including:
- 6,451 cigarette butts
- 1,982 food wrappers
- 1,177 bits of paper & cardboard
- 630 plastic bags
- 321 cups & lids
- 139 bottles & cans
- 121 pieces of glass
- 89 pieces of metal
- 63 items of clothing/shoes
- 38 pieces of styrofoam
- 13 pieces of electronics
- Some interesting finds included:
- Motorcycle license plate
- Car seat cover
- Little stuffed tiger
- Empty perfume bottle
- Spray foam canister with foam attached
- Ladies razor
- Metal mug
- Mattress
- Vacuum head
- 2 hubcaps from 2 different cars
- Hundreds and hundreds of pieces of plastic confetti at Edmonds Community Park!
- Try making confetti out of dried leaves to leave less trace!
- Labubu keychain
- Ear plug
- Drug testing strip
- Abandoned shopping carts
- Baby bib
- Hairnet
- Hand pruner
- Small blender
- Construction nails of all sizes
- Shiny purple pillow
- Christmas tree lottery scratcher
- Broken picture frame
- 5 vape pens
- 9V battery
- Electrical contactor
- And much more!
Highlights
- Community members joined us from across the Lower Mainland including from Burnaby itself, Vancouver, New Westminster, Surrey, Delta, 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!
- Many passersby thanked us & asked how they could get involved, & cars honked with people giving us smiles & thumbs up!
- Burnaby Acting Mayor Joe Keithley, Councillor Richard T. Lee, & Councillor James Wang joined us to share their appreciation to everyone for coming together to take care of the community!
- 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!
- Many delicious snacks were enjoyed during our snack break, including homemade vegan brownies, carrots & cucumbers, Pickle-licious chips, lemon biscotti, trail mix, granola bars, Jolly rancher gummies, juice and more!
- Fences didn’t stop us from getting trapped litter!
- We went out with a pop!
- Special thank you to:
- Jarod for leading the early morning packing, unpacking, repacking and final unpacking (whew!) of our vehicle!
- We always ensure we are well prepared for cleanups with lots of tools!
- Our Litter Leaders Amos, Jan, Gary, Ryan & Jarod for playing an essential role in helping create a safe and positive experience for everyone at this activity, and for arriving early and staying late to help with setup and takedown!
- Interested in helping as a volunteer Litter Leader yourself? Find more information here!
- The many people who shared kind words about their experience with us!
- Svante Technologies for bringing a group of people out to join us!
- Jarod for leading the early morning packing, unpacking, repacking and final unpacking (whew!) of our vehicle!
- 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
22 participants shared what this activity meant to them:
Video of Fiorella speaking about wanting to get involved in the community, seeing everyone come together to care for Burnaby, building friendships & inspiring other residents!
Video of Aureus & Mohamed speaking about meeting people, gaining new perspectives and learning from others, building a sense of community & the feeling of contributing!
Video of Hyemin speaking about coming out with some friends to make an impact on the community!
Video of Tamanna speaking about how it is all of our responsibility to keep our neighbourhoods clean and protect the environment, and making the neighbourhood cleaner and safer for everyone as well the larger impact on the environment!
Video of Larry speaking about people coming from all over to clean the community, and the amazing effects of everyone working together
Video of Raheem speaking about feeling happy, working with others, and being a newcomer to Canada!
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 Rob for their valued contributions in making this activity possible.
This is the 3rd of 4 litter cleanups and 5th 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 Director of Partnerships & Programs, Ashton Kerr.
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!