
Clean Ups
Cleaning Up the Don Valley
The waste we saw in the valley was what first inspired us to form Don’t Mess with the Don. It seemed everywhere we looked there was garbage and the problem was only getting worse so we knew we had to do something about it. Seven years on and we’ve completed over 200 clean ups removing thousands of pounds of garbage including everything from shopping carts to tires and we’re not stopping there! We run regular clean ups throughout the year as well as the occasional extra pop up clean up.
As well as cleaning up garbage we want to stop it from ever reaching the valley. Garbage comes from many sources and sometimes isn’t from people littering, though does occur. Upstream sources can include re-garbage, where dumpsters from residential buildings are not fit for purpose meaning strong winds blow the garbage into the valley. We are working with the city and with private buildings and business to address these upstream sources but it’s a lengthy process so in the meantime we’ll continue to do our clean ups for as long as we’re needed!
Totals for 2024
49 Clean Ups
9 Shopping Carts
80 Tires
3350 Volunteer Hours
3,110 Garbage Bags Filled
60,160 lbs of Garbage Removed
Earth Day 2025 Events
April 13th - Clean up the Brickworks 10 - 1 pm
April 19th - DMWTD and partners annual Earth day Clean up at Thorncliffe/E.T. Seton Park 10 - 1 pm
April 26th - DMWTD Stewardship - Meet at the Loblaws Trailhead - 11 Redway Rd. 10 - 1 pm
April 27th - Wreath Making from Invasive Species with the Brickworks 10 am
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Our Progress
Totals Since 2018
119 Clean Ups
18,989 Volunteer Hours
10,794 Garbage Bags Filled
276,550 lbs of Garbage Removed