The ultimate spring clean to make the Forest City shine

City of London launches monthly cleanups as part of Bicentennial

Today is Earth Day, and as part of London’s Bicentennial year, the City of London is launching a new series of monthly cleanups in the community as part of its One City, One Team initiative. Operations crews across the corporation will work together and focus on improving a different area of the city each month. These concentrated cleanups are in addition to the day‑to‑day work we do year-round to help keep London clean.

The first full-team cleanup will take place along Highbury Avenue South between Hamilton Road and Highway 401 tomorrow, April 23, where all of the City’s operations crews will be working together to tackle litter and debris along the roadway and surrounding areas. The road will be closed for safety while we clean. 

Each following month, we will tackle another road or park across London.

“Every day, our staff are out in the community helping keep London safe, clean, and connected,” says Kelly Scherr, Deputy City Manager, Environment and Infrastructure. “These coordinated monthly cleanups bring all of our different crews together as one team to make an even bigger impact in the community during this milestone year. We all want London looking its best as we celebrate 200 years.”

What these monthly cleanups involve

Each month, operations staff will conduct a coordinated cleanup. Our goal is to leave each area cleaner, tidier, and more welcoming for residents.

Locations are being identified using our operations data of what areas need a little extra care and cleaning, and are informed by Service London requests we’ve received over the years from Londoners.  

Keep an eye out for our crews across London this year. You’ll see our trucks, equipment, and team members out cleaning. We will share updates on social media as the cleanups take place. 

Spring cleaning, street sweeping, and annual maintenance

These new cleanups are in addition to our day-to-day work. Some of the many ways City staff keep London clean and connected year-round include:

• filling potholes and street sweeping
• keeping pipes and sewers flowing, and repairing watermain breaks
• cutting grass in parks, maintaining paths, and supporting the health of London’s trees and urban forest 

With spring finally here, street cleaners are out daily sweeping roads and removing litter. Pothole repairs began in the winter and are well underway.

Annual sewer cleaning is also underway to keep our infrastructure running smoothly. Sewer cleaning began last week and continues until mid-May.

Preparing parks for a busy spring and summer

City staff are also preparing parks and outdoor recreation spaces for another active season.

Our annual litter cleanups in parks have begun and will continue into May. Our additional seasonal garbage cans also began to return to parks this month, with all extra containers in place by May.

How Londoners can help

Keeping London clean is a shared responsibility, and while our monthly cleanups will be conducted by City operations crews, there are many ways residents and community groups can help.

April was full of London Clean and Green events in the community, and we encourage the spirit and momentum of Clean and Green to continue over the coming weeks. As Londoners continue their spring cleaning, information about our EnviroDepots is available online. Londoners can also visit London Environmental Network’s website for more events and information about the Antler River Rally cleanups.

Thank you for doing your part too, whether by reducing litter, taking waste home when garbage cans are not available, or reporting issues through the Service London portal at service.london.ca.