Step 1: Establish the team

• Get school administration approval

• Decide on the date and time for your start-up meeting

• Spread the word about your clean-up to the school community (e.g., announcements, posters, social media) to generate interest and advertise your start-up meeting

Step 2: Plan your event

• Hold a start up meeting

• Decide upon logistics (e.g., scope, date, time, location, responsibilities)

• Find out what was learned from previous clean-ups

• Determine success criteria

• Develop strategies for publicizing your event

• List resources you will need (garbage bags, gloves, etc.)

Step 3: Register your event

• Publicize your event

• Review the Planning and Environmental Education Event page and Safety and Equipment page in this section

• Register online (see instructions)

Step 4: Execute your plan

• Clean up your community! (Don't forget to weigh your garbage when the clean up is finished to see how much of an impact your team made!)

Step 5: Reflect on your event

• Celebrate your success (e.g., party, rewards)

• Set a follow-up meeting to provide feedback, make recommendations, and to start planning your next community clean up!

Undeniably, the first concern of many schools interested in organizing a community clean-up is the safety of their participants. By following these safety guidelines and obtaining some basic clean-up equipment, you should be able to organize a safe and successful clean-up event involving students from kindergarten through high school.

Safety - before your event

• Plan ahead to ensure that there is sufficient adult supervision of the students involved in picking up litter and other garbage. Parents and volunteers could be invited to help teachers supervise students.

• Use school announcements to review safety guidelines during the week preceding your clean-up event.

• Include information about safety in newsletter articles and social media platforms.

Safety - during your event

• Provide at least one glove for each student. For community clean-ups in ravines or heavily vegetated areas, reusable cloth gloves will provide more protection.

• Make certain that students do not touch any dangerous materials (e.g., broken glass, needles, sharp objects, and condoms).

• If dangerous or suspicious items are found, mark the location using a pylon or hula hoop so that the Caretaker or another adult can find and safely remove it.

• Extra care should be taken around shrubs because dangerous materials are more difficult to spot in these locations.

• Students should work in teams supervised by an adult, and always remain in a group, particularly in densely vegetated areas.

• Keep younger children away from the edges of ponds or creeks.

• Have a first aid station, and ensure that all team leaders know where it is and who to contact in case a problem does arise.

• For clean-ups off school property, someone should have a cell phone handy in case of emergencies.

Safety - after your event

• All participants should wash their hands after the clean-up. If your community clean-up event is off school property, plan ahead for hand washing.

Permission Forms

• Permission forms should be sent home to ensure parents are supportive of their children participating in the clean-up activity.

Equipment 

• You’re going to need some basic equipment for your community clean-up, most of which is already in the school. Here are a few ideas to consider:

Garbage Bags

• Used grocery bags - ask students to bring these in from home prior to the clean-up event. Used bags are ideal for participants to use for collecting litter.

• Large bags - the school caretaker may be able to supply these. Have several large bags available and ask students to dump the contents of their grocery bags in them.

• Recycling containers - designate students to collect recyclable products that are reasonably clean and put these in the school’s blue boxes or blue toters.

Gloves

• One glove per student should be adequate, unless you’re doing a major clean-up of a ravine or park and dealing with more than litter.

• The school should be able to provide latex gloves from their own supply.

• If you are planning to make clean-ups an annual event and are concerned about creating more garbage with latex gloves, ask a community partner to sponsor reusable cloth gloves. You’ll need to collect them and find a volunteer to wash them all when your clean-up is over!

• Ask students to bring in their own gloves from home.

Sensible Clothing 

• Participants should be warned that cleaning up garbage can be messy! The community clean-up is not the best occasion to show off a favourite new fashion item - older clothes and sensible shoes with strong soles are ideal.

• Long sleeves and pants are recommended for clean-ups around bushes and shrubs. 

Extra Equipment 

Shopping cart or child’s wagon

• If you are working away from the school grounds, a shopping cart or child’s wagon may be helpful to carry supplies to and litter from the clean-up location.

Salad Tongs

• If your school does a lot of clean-ups, and your students are K-6, you may consider investing in a set of “salad tongs” which have a pincer on the end to grasp items. Check out your local Dollar Store to see if they carry them or consider using metal/rubber barbeque tongs as a cheaper alternative.