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. Eight 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!
Earth Day 2026 Events - April 26th at 10 am.
Our big annual Cleanup at E.T. Seton Park
Join us for DMWTD's oldest and most popular event - Every year more than 200 people come out for the biggest clean up we do. Food, community and all the gear is provided for one of our favourite days of the year. In 2019, more than 750 people cleaned over 30,000 pounds of trash in this cleanup as the biggest land cleanup in CanadaMap link - https://maps.app.goo.gl/QN4Sc1ijbBg9w4QK6
No need to sign up unless you are a group of more than 10 - https://forms.gle/5Gf843d7rCsZk9Ty8
or you would like to help as a lead volunteer with Registration/Trash Captain/Information desk - https://forms.gle/uUybfjWViUjMHzEm7
Our big annual Stewardship event in Sun Valley
Join DMWTD stewards as we do our most important work, restoring ecosystems and habitat by removing invasive plants and planting native plants. The Don Valley has suffered greatly from the presence of invasive plants like Dog Strangling Vine and Buckthorn. DMWTD stewards have worked for over 6 years to help restore our precious ecosystems for the birds, insects, pollinators and animals that depend on native plants for their very lives. We have all the tools, expertise, yummy treats, gloves etc that will help you have a most rewarding Earth Day.
Map link - https://maps.app.goo.gl/YesmaX519atH4CQP7
Don’t Mess with the Don
TRASH GRAB
Earth Week - April 20th - 26th
You, your family & friends can clean your favourite park, neighbourhood or street and for every bag you clean, donors will contribute $5 to Don’t Mess with the Don.
No need to raise money, you can pick the area you clean and at the same time
support all the great DMWTD Free Programming. Clean ups can be done at anytime during the week.
After you do your clean up, just send a photo, a location pin and the number of bags collected to
info@dontmesswiththedon.ca
We have secured pledges for up to $25,000 or 5000 bags of trash collected
Pre-registration is easy, optional and we will send updates
https://forms.gle/u66FXfWgf3P27uiW6
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
2026 DVP Cleanup - May 31st
One of our biggest events of the year is the annual DVP clean up. Hundreds of volunteers join together to take Canada's busiest highway and a years worth of trash that if not collected ends up primarily in the Don River.
We have five locations this year, up from four in previous years. If you are interested in participating - sign up here - https://forms.gle/8HVbwbre1s1iFytX6
Queen St. - view on map
Danforth - view on map
Don Mills/Taylor Creek - view on map
Rainbow Tunnel - view on map
York Mills - view on map
Our Progress
Totals Since 2018
305 Clean Ups
38,989 Volunteer Hours
21,900 Garbage Bags Filled
401,550 lbs of Garbage Removed
