Every September, millions of people around the globe come together for World Cleanup Day, a worldwide movement dedicated to protecting and preserving our planet. Held on the third weekend of September, this event is part of Clean Up the World Weekend, where communities take action against litter, waste, and pollution.
It’s more than just picking up trash. It’s about showing kids (and reminding ourselves!) that small actions can add up to big change. For families and schools, it’s the perfect opportunity to roll up your sleeves, get outside, and make a visible difference in your community.
If you’re looking for inspiration, here are five engaging ways to celebrate World Cleanup Day with children, neighbors, and classmates.
- Organize a Local Park Cleanup
Grab some gloves, trash bags, and a few friends, and head to your nearest park, playground, or nature trail. Even a short cleanup can make the area safer for wildlife and more enjoyable for your community. Every piece of trash removed is one less hazard for birds, squirrels, and pollinators. And, by stopping litter before it breaks down, you also keep microplastics out of the soil and water. Kids especially love seeing the before-and-after difference, which helps them understand how simple actions can restore green spaces.
- Host a Recycling Drive
Recycling is one of the simplest ways to cut down on waste. Try setting up a school or neighborhood drive for cans, bottles, or paper. Not only does this divert trash from landfills, but it also saves natural resources and energy. For example, recycling aluminum cans uses 95% less energy than making new ones. Hosting larger electronic or paint recycling drives is also a great way to bring the community together and divert items out of the landfill.
Additionally, this is the perfect time of year to host "recycling" drives for items like leaves or branches that can be composted instead of put in the landfill. Keep the momentum going by recycling pumpkins after Halloween, or Christmas trees in January. Our community always hosts a holiday lights recycling drive in November that prevents thousands of string lights from going into the landfill.
- Turn Trash into Treasure
One person’s trash is another person’s treasure! Collect materials like cardboard boxes, plastic containers, or old magazines and host a “Trash to Treasure” workshop. Kids can build sculptures, create planters, or make decorations while learning firsthand about reusing instead of discarding.
Or, host an “Item Swap” or "Junk in the Trunk" event where your community can gather to give away items they no longer need like clothes, toys, furniture and more. My neighborhood does this through our "Buy Nothing" Facebook group, but hosting a community-wide garage sale over World Clean Up Weekend could have the same effect. By giving new life to discarded items, you’re reducing the demand for new resources, keeping waste out of landfills, and inspiring creativity rooted in sustainability.
- Join a Beach or River Cleanup
For those who live near water, beach and river cleanups are powerful, eye-opening experiences. Removing trash from shorelines not only makes the area more inviting, but it also protects aquatic ecosystems. Most marine debris begins on land, and plastics can harm fish, turtles, and birds through entanglement or ingestion. By cleaning up these spaces, you help safeguard wildlife and improve the health of local waterways that often feed into larger rivers, lakes, or even oceans.
- Try the Reduce, Reuse, Recycle Challenge
Turn sustainability into a friendly competition! Set a challenge for your family, classroom, or neighborhood to see who can reduce, reuse, and recycle the most over the weekend. Tracking your efforts builds awareness of how much waste you’re generating and how much you can actually cut back. This kind of challenge encourages habits that extend well beyond a single weekend, lowering greenhouse gas emissions, conserving energy, and shrinking the amount of trash headed to landfills. Or, download our free Bingo game below and try to get a bingo!
Why It Matters
World Cleanup Day isn’t just about picking up litter. It’s about building a sustainable future and helping kids understand that their actions matter. These activities give families and schools a chance to spend meaningful time together while making a visible difference in the community. Even small steps, like sorting recycling or filling a single bag of trash, help create cleaner, healthier spaces for everyone.
Whether you’re a teacher, parent, or community leader, this September is the perfect time to join the global movement. Together, we can show the next generation what stewardship looks like in action.
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