The 35th annual Earth Day Clean Up of Oakville Nature Sites was organized by the:
Oakville Community Centre for Peace, Ecology and Human Rights,
P.O. Box 52007, Oakville, ON L6J 7N5, (905) 849-5501
Final Report and Media Release for the 2026 Earth Day Clean Up
1,484 Volunteers Pitch-in at 35th annual Eco Event:
Earth Day Clean Up in Oakville contributes to anti-littering ethos in town!
Even in its thirty-fifth consecutive year, the annual Oakville Earth Day Clean Up continues to grow year after year with more and more people and organizations participating in this wildly successful grassroots environmental initiative.
Since 2020, the Theme for this community-wide event has declared that we are “For a clean, green, litter-free Oakville” and in the aftermath of the 2026 Earth Day Clean Up, Oakville is in fact “much cleaner, greener and more litter-free!”
When thirty volunteers with the Oakville Community Centre for Peace, Ecology and Human Rights cleaned up greenspaces along the Twelve Mile Creek under the overpass at Bronte Road and the QEW thirty-five years ago in 1992, little did we know that the campaign would expand to seventy nature sites being taken care of in 2026.
This eco campaign has grown in size, scope and accomplishments over its thirty-five years. The community is clearly taking greater responsibility and ownership for the local natural environment as witnessed by the dramatic increase in the number of Clean Up sites now set up at parks, trails, ravines, woodlots and lakefront for Earth Day.
The success of the Earth Day Clean Up also demonstrates that neighbourhood-based individuals and community groups are eager to be more greatly involved in their town’s progress and development.
At each of the 70 nature sites on April 18th, an Earth Day Clean Up Site Coordinator welcomed the volunteers, handed out garbage bags and disposable gloves and directed them as to where to pitch-in. While noting that many sites had more than one Site Coordinator, a total of 105 people were accredited Site Coordinators in 2026, a new campaign record.
Site Coordinators reported that volunteers were incredibly enthusiastic and meticulous in their pursuit of picking up garbage.
Site Coordinators also reported that Oakville’s beautiful nature sites were much cleaner compared to previous years and that there was a substantial reduction in the amount of garbage collected and fewer large pieces of trash removed by volunteers from Oakville green spaces at the 2026 Clean Up.
Participants expressed appreciation for the event being organized and pledged to join future Clean Ups as well.
The No Littering Campaign is Growing in Oakville
Many different constituencies are making very valuable contributions to a more litter-free Oakville.
The one hundred and five Site Coordinators registered with the Oakville Community Centre for Peace, Ecology and Human Rights, schools, municipal and provincial and federal governments, Oakville Parks Ambassadors, Oakville Town Parks and Open Space Department staff, dog walkers, trail walkers, civic-minded citizens and many others are now all together contributing to raising awareness about littering and are maintaining the cleanliness of Oakville’s green spaces year round.
Congratulations, Oakville!
Town Sponsorship of Event
At the annual Planning Meeting for Site Coordinators held this past Tuesday, March 31st in the Bronte Room at Town Hall, Mayor Robert Burton welcomed the fifty-five Site Coordinators in attendance, thanked everyone for their participation and congratulated the Oakville Community Centre for Peace, Ecology and Human Rights for its dedication to the local natural environment.
Councillor and Regional Councillor Tom Adams also thanked the campaign for organizing an important environmental activity which he said the Town itself could not possibly replicate and which saves the Town considerable tax expense every year.
And in a letter distributed to all Site Coordinators and addressed to all Earth Day Clean Up volunteers, Mayor Rob Burton stated that “Site Coordinators and volunteers play an important role in making our community more sustainable and highlight the importance of teamwork.”
Ward 1 Councillor Jonathan McNiece pitched-in at Bronte Harbour while Ward 1 Councillor Sean O’Meara set-up a second clean up site for Bronte Harbour at East and Marine. Ward 3 Councillors Dave Gittings and Janet Haslett-Theall visited several sites being cleaned up. Ward 7 Councillors Scott Xie and Nav Nanda assisted with outreach for ward sites. Ward 6 Councillor Tom Adams, the campaign’s longest participating Councillor, set-up for a 24th consecutive year at Algrove Park.
And, Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand pitched-in with her husband and dog at Gairloch Gardens in Ward Three.
The campaign also was acknowledged with a House of Commons “Certificate of Recognition”. This certificate was presented to Site Coordinator Seema Nambiar at the Ward Three Coronation Park Clean Up site by Oakville West Member of Parliament Sima Acan.
Earth Day Clean Up Attracts Major Sponsors
Oakville’s Parks and Open Space Department provided a grant and supplies including garbage bags, disposable gloves and hand sanitizers for all sites. Highly visible mobile signs publicizing the event also were stationed at locations throughout the community in advance of the event by Parks.
Halton Region Waste Management paid for a Miller Waste Systems garbage truck and their two employees to pick up all of the collected trash and for the landfill fees.
Clean Up volunteers will be enjoying a free small box of popcorn from Film.ca Cinemas on Speers Road; All volunteers received a Coupon attached to a thank you mini-letter from the organizers.
Panago Pizza on Neyagawa Boulevard baked fifty large pies in appreciation for the involvement of the Site Coordinators. Thanks are extended to franchise owners Ketan and Payal Patel.
Every one of the nine Oakville Starbucks coffeeshops donated seven coffee Travellers each that were enjoyed by Site Coordinators in preparation for the morning’s activity. Thanks are extended to Skyler Skerry, Store Manager of the Starbucks on North Service Road at Dorval, for coordinating the distribution of Travellers and to the many Starbucks staff members who prepared the donation for pick-up.
Sponsorships were also received from several local businesses, Resident Associations, faith groups and community organizations that have been supporting the event for many, many years. There were a total of fifty-two sponsors in 2026. Visit the event website to review the list of sponsors.
Results of the 2026 Earth Day Clean Up (now organized on a Ward by Ward basis):
AMOUNT OF GARBAGE COLLECTED
The seventy Clean Up sites reported that a total of 1,078 bags of garbage and 94 pieces of metal were picked up and trucked away to the landfill on April 18th, right after the event concluded. Miller Waste Systems reported that the total weight of all of our collected waste was 3,720 kilograms.
NUMBER OF VOLUNTEERS PITCHING-IN (1,484)
Site Coordinators reported that a total of 1,484 volunteers pitched-in on Saturday morning in support of the 35th annual Earth Day Clean Up.
In Ward One, nine sites were cleaned up by a total of 229 volunteers including Bronte Bluffs Park (10), Bronte Creek Provincial Park (30), Bronte Harbour at East Street (12), Bronte Road at the QEW Carpool (20), Burloak Drive and QEW (15), Donovan Bailey Park (2), Lakeshore Woods (80), Valleyridge Park and Trails (44) and Westbrook Park (18).
For Ward Two, there were eleven sites confirmed for the Clean Up including Aldercrest Park (15), Burnet Park (23), Coronation Park (100), Glen Oak Creek Trail South (3), Hopedale Park (6), Indian Ridge Trail from Lindsay Drive to Fourth Line (6), Nottinghill Park (33), Old Abbey Lane Park (65), West River at Forster Park and Hogs Back Park (25), and the Woodhaven and Sedgewick Parks site (6). These areas were cleaned up by a total of 284 signed-in volunteers.
Ward Three’s nine sites included Busby Park (33), Clearview Park and area (55), Cornwall Road at Perkins Passage (including Post Park, Maple Valley Park and the Cornwall Sports Park (8), Dunvegan and Ardleigh Parks (13), Gairloch Gardens (22), Lakeside Park and Oakville Museum (29), Linbrook School (21), Maple Grove Park and trails (37) and Wallace Park (23). In total, 241 volunteers pitched-in at Ward Three.
Ward Four hosted the greatest number of sites with thirteen including Arbourview Trail Park (44), Bloomfield Park (10), Glen Abbey Trail (12), Heritage Way Park (14), Langtry Park (20), Millstone Park (23), Ravine at Third Line and Upper Middle Road (2), Sandpiper Road at Pheasant Lane (16), Saw Whet Park (33), Sixteen Hollow Park (15), Sixteen Mile Creek Trails (16), Stratus and Adirondack (15) and Woodgate Woods (4). Here, 257 volunteers lent a hand.
Ward Five had eleven sites with 171 volunteers including Castlefield Park (6), Harman Gate Park (13), Memorial Park on Hays Boulevard (10), Memorial Park Playground (41), Munns Creek and Margot Street Parks (22), Neyagawa Park (9), Oxford Park (26), Pelee Woods Park (9), Shannon Creek at Marlatt (19), and the Sheridan College trails beginning at Treetops Estates (16).
210 volunteers pitched-in at nine sites in Ward Six including Algrove Park (5), Bayshire Woods Park (14), Falgarwood Park (6), Glenashton Drive Bridge and ravines (38), Glenashton Park and Iroquois Ridge Community Centre (78), Iroquois Shoreline Woods (6), Lyndhurst Park (16), Ravineview Way (15) and Valleybrook Park (32).
And in north Oakville’s Ward Seven, there were nine sites including Fowley Park (10), George Savage Park (4, estimate), Gladeside Pond (11), Isaac Park (4), Kaitling Pond (6), Lions Valley Park (25), Palermo Park (16), Preserve Woods Park (35) and William Rose Park (14). A total of 125 volunteers registered to help out.
THE NUMBER OF HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS PITCHING-IN (225)
Of the total 1,484 pitch-in volunteers, 225 were High School students who received a practical lesson in environmentalism through their participation and gained three community service hours by volunteering. Across Oakville, the numbers were Ward One (40), Ward Two (30), Ward Three (25), Ward Four (57), Ward Five (18), Ward Six (28) and Ward Seven (27 students).
THE NUMBER OF SITES STAFFED BY COMMUNITY GROUPS AND INDIVIDUALS
Thirty-three of seventy sites were staffed by fifty-five representatives of various local organizations while the other thirty-seven sites were staffed by fifty individual supporters. On the website, there is a list of these local organizations and the individuals who were Site Coordinators for the 2026 Clean Up.
In the past thirty-five years, there have been 252 Site Coordinators including 147 past Site Coordinators.
Tens of thousands of Oakville residents and students have participated in this annual eco event over the past three and a half decades making a BIG difference for the local natural environment and the health of the community.
INTERESTING ITEMS FOUND AND REMOVED AT THE CLEAN UP
A muffler, car roof rack part, gloves, bib, Buddha planter, Christmas decoration, fire extinguisher, toaster, a burial urn which was left where it was!, a baseball, golf ball, broken fishing rod, shovel, beer cans, 32 foot long PVC drainage pipe, swimming pool ladder, 12 foot long landscape edging, decorative small light lamps, rusted oxygen tank, drone, metal pole, metal rod, car parts, purse, plant pots, pool floaty, paint cans, CD, knife, rabies vaccine, hoses, skate guard, tiles, faucet, bucket, baseball, sports balls, air pod, many alcohol bottles, many golf balls, large pieces of styrofoam, Christmas/winter urns, 45 lb weight, piece of car headlight, long metal rope, metal ball, lots of Red Bull, jack knife, broken pail, propane tank, glass vodka bottle in the shape of a skull, pottery, archaeological remnants of a pipe bowl, a big piece of a door frame, tire, plant tents, two pairs of wool gloves, street sign, suitcase, garden hose, door mat, extra-large planter pot, masks, baby’s items, balloons, plastic bags, troll doll, partial animal skull, a pregnancy test, terra cotta planters, garbage that has turned into homes for different living creatures, Ford hub cap, hula hoop, rusty saw, hub cap, piece for bridge construction, part of a muffler, dirty sleeping bag, multiple car fragments, golf ball, football, large crystal, circular foam snow board, object sprayed with skunk urine, car door, chair, bicycle, beer bottles, plastic bottles, cigarette butts, poo bags, lots of alcohol return-for-deposit items, car tires, whole coconuts, many empty alcohol containers, one used needle, 14” iron wrench, a creepy baby doll, lots of car parts, two BBQ’s, bicycle stand, plastic, glass, cables, cigarette butts, Tim Hortons garbage, elections campaign signs, drawer set, four blue boxes, lots of plastic bottles, two yarn balls, tequila bottle, two saw blades, large package of aluminum siding, tires, styrofoam housing insulation, grocery cart, construction netting and other construction materials, false teeth, shovel, mason jar of allan keys, a slip and slide, and a pylon. It’s quite the collection of objects removed from our natural environment for Earth Day 2026!
CELL PHONE DRIVE FOR SUPPORT HOUSE AND OUR MOST VULNERABLE NEIGHBOURS
This year’s campaign worked with Support House to encourage Clean Up participants to donate their old cell phones so they can be given to the clients this organization serves who are the Halton individuals facing housing instability, mental health challenges and other barriers to healthcare. To participate in this campaign, please contact Joanne Dickenson at chc@supporthouse.ca or 1-833-845-9355, x222.
The Five Goals of the Oakville Earth Day Clean Up Campaign
The campaign is succeeding in reaching its Five Goals of promoting awareness and respect for nature and Oakville’s many waterways, beautifying local neighbourhoods, building community through environmental activism, protecting wildlife, and increasing awareness of the need to protect biodiversity in Oakville.
Stay involved and active for the natural environment
The oakvillepeacecentre.org Clean Up website features Lists of the Clean Up sites, the Site Coordinators and the long-time and new Event Sponsors, reports, posters, photographs and other info.
Ongoing since 1992, this event has been organized by the Oakville Community Centre for Peace, Ecology and Human Rights, an incorporated, not-for-profit social movement organization. We are an activist organization, not a charitable organization. Assist in organizing campaigns for peace, ecology and human rights! Become a member of the group!
Please contact the organizers to volunteer and/or donate via Interact to:info@oakvillepeacecentre. Thank you very much! We look forward to your participation.
Date announced for the 2027 Earth Day Clean Up
The 36th annual Earth Day Clean Up of Oakville Nature Sites is now scheduled to take place on SATURDAY, APRIL 24, 2027 (from 9-11am or noon at most sites). Thanks for pitching-in!