Spring is officially blossoming—the days are getting longer, the weather is getting warmer, and park cleanups are back!

While everyone can appreciate a tidy block and a pristine park, cleanups don’t just make our city look better: these efforts help keep litter out of our sewer system and waterways where trash, such as plastic bags, can negatively impact infrastructure and harm wildlife.

They also bring together people and organizations who care about our parks and waterways, including the Philadelphia Water Department and our Waterways Restoration unit, which supports a number of volunteer efforts with extra staff and equipment to remove debris like discarded tires.

After a few chaotic seasons interrupted by the pandemic, we are thrilled to see volunteer events back in full force. From Tacony Creek to the Wissahickon, cleanup events in green spaces across the city are scheduled throughout the spring season.

Here are a few upcoming opportunities, and we also recommend signing up for our event updates for alerts about future watershed cleanups:

Weekly Wednesday Clean Up: Tacony Creek Park

  • When: Wednesday, March 23 from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. and Wednesday, March 30 from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m
  • Where: Crescentville Road & Tookany Creek Parkway, Philadelphia, PA 19120
  • Details: All tools and supplies will be provided, including work gloves, snacks, and water. Restrooms not available. Please bring a reusable water bottle if you have one. TTF will provide a free reusable water bottle to volunteers. TTF will follow Philadelphia COVID-19 guidelines and will provide masks. Pre-registration is required and each event is limited to 25 volunteers.
Register for the March 23 event or Register for the March 30 event

Friends of Wissahickon: Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service 2022

  • When: Saturday, March 26th from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.
  • Where:
  • Details: Lincoln Drive will close from Wissahickon Avenue down to Ridge Avenue for this special cleanup. There will be meeting locations at each end of the clean-up area, with the groups traveling toward each other on Lincoln Drive. Wear warm layers. Gloves, trash bags, trash grabbers, and instructions will be provided. The event will be canceled in inclement weather. You must pre-register for a site and sign the volunteer agreement and release before you are allowed to join the clean-up.
Register for Friends of Wissahickon cleanups

Citywide 2022 Philly Spring Cleanup

  • When: Saturday, April 2nd from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
  • Where: Locations across the city
  • Details: Celebrating 15 years of community cleaning partnerships, the Streets Department signature event is Philadelphia’s largest cleanup taking place in a single day. Though project registration has closed, you can volunteer for an existing project at PhillySpringCleanup.com. The Streets Department is now accepting project ideas and volunteer signups.
Learn more about Philly Spring Cleanup

Earth Week Cleanup

More info + Register!

Darby-Cobbs Cleanups

The Darby Creek Valley Association will be hosting cleanups along the Darby-Cobbs Creek throughout April, with dates and registration info listed here.

The first event on the Philadelphia end of the watershed takes place at the beautiful John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge on April 16.

The weekend following Earth Day will see events in Philly at the Blue Bell Inn Park and Mount Moriah Cemetery.

Find a Darby Creek Valley event

If you can’t make any of the events in the city, remember – everything flows downstream!

There are many up-watershed events that improve the water flowing our way!

Schuylkill Scrub

The Schuylkill Scrub is a watershed-wide clean-up initiative that ​takes place from March 1st through May 31st every spring. ​The Schuylkill Action Network coordinates the effort but gives credit to the many partners who help reach the common goal: cleaning as many miles of road, stream, and parkland in the Schuylkill watershed as possible.

​Free supplies (trash bags, gloves, and vests) are provided through Keep PA Beautiful courtesy of PennDOT and PA DEP.

Learn more or register a cleanup at the Schuylkill Scrub site, or

Find a Schuylkill Scrub event

Love Your Park Events

Established to ‘clean, green, and celebrate our public green spaces,’ Love Your Park, a coalition comprised of Philadelphia Parks & Recreation, the Fairmount Park Conservancy, and Park Friends Network, is hosting a lineup of cleanups this spring. Sites include Cobbs Creek Park, Tacony Creek Park, and the Rail Park.

Love Your Park Week is set for May 7 to 15. Registration is open for Park Friends Groups and other park stewards through March 31. Volunteer registration opens April 13. Learn more at loveyourpark.org.

See full event list!

Want to plan a community cleanup?

If you’re looking to host a cleanup in your neighborhood, you can initiate an event through the City’s Community Partnership Program (CPP). which loans equipment/supplies and coordinates bagged trash pick-up after a cleanup event.

Learn More!

Already have a cleanup planned?

Send your spring community cleanup events to waterinfo@phila.gov, and we’ll consider adding them to our running list!

We hope to see you at these events where you can help keep our communities and waterways clean!

And to be notified of future volunteer opportunities, sign up for Water Department event updates here!