Philadelphia – The Office of Clean and Green Initiatives is advancing Mayor Parker’s One Philly, United City Cleaning Initiative by continuing the One Philly, United City Citywide Cleaning Program.  Over 200,000 quality-of-life services have been completed across the city as part of this initiative. The Office of Clean and Green Initiatives, in partnership with various city departments, quasi-governmental agencies, and nonprofits, will continue efforts to tackle persistent quality-of-life issues such as litter, illegal dumping, graffiti, abandoned vehicles, vacant lots, and nuisance properties as part of the fall edition of the program from November 3, 2025, through January 30, 2026.

Thanks to the success of the program over the past year and half and the diligent efforts of each agency’s employees, the program is now standard operating procedure where detailed cleaning will take place in every neighborhood twice annually. History has demonstrated that efforts from a one-time cleaning of the entire city cannot be maintained alone. Preventive measures, enforcement and support from residents and businesses keeping their areas clean are necessary to sustain cleaning efforts. Utilizing a proactive, intergovernmental, and holistic strategy that addresses every quality-of-life service, city departments and partnering agencies continue to support Mayor Parker’s vision to make Philadelphia the Safest, Cleanest, Greenest big city in the nation with Access to Economic Opportunity for All.

The program is again operating on a 13-week schedule. Work begins in the Northeast and will conclude in North Philadelphia. The schedule aligns with the Sanitation Department’s Fall Leaf Recycling Program. The fall season is a perfect time to do another citywide cleaning because fallen leaves can exacerbate litter conditions and clog sewer drains. By aligning the Citywide Cleaning and Greening Program with the Leaf Recycling Program, leaf collection services are enhanced and expanded through manual leaf removal in areas of the city that do not receive mechanical leaf collection. Areas of the city with significant tree canopies will receive additional support capturing fallen leaves.

Full-Service Cleaning Plan

The One Philly, United Citywide Cleaning and Greening Program is supported by more than a dozen government agencies:

• Office of the Mayor
• Office of Clean and Green Initiatives
• Department of Sanitation Department
• Community Life Improvement Program
• Commerce Department’s Taking Care of Business
• Police Department’s Neighborhood Services Unit
• Philadelphia Parks and Recreation
• Philadelphia Water Department
• Philadelphia Parking Authority
• Licenses and Inspections
• Department of Streets
• SEPTA
• Philadelphia School District
• Pennsylvania Horticultural Society

To reinforce the comprehensive cleaning strategy, crews will continue to utilize the Department of Sanitation’s pre-established collection routes as they clean each neighborhood. Cleaning teams will work, in tandem, on each route, in all neighborhoods. Litter and trash are most visible on trash and recycling days. Cleaning teams will be assigned to a route and will be scheduled to work a day behind the areas trash and recycling collection day to maximize impact.

The Sanitation-led cleaning program will be coordinated with other City agencies to simultaneously address major quality of life issues and clean additional public spaces in each Sanitation district.  The full-service cleaning plan has several components:

• Sanitation Department cleaning teams made up of laborers equipped with brooms, shovels, weed trimmers and air blowers to clean up the trash and clear fence and curb lines littered with trash. Mechanical equipment will be deployed, including flushers and blowers to remove debris and clean the streets thoroughly.
• Maintenance and repair of vacant lots and removal of graffiti by CLIP.
• Commercial corridor cleaning by the Commerce Department’s PHL Taking Care.
• Deep clean neighborhood parks and rec centers by PPR.
• Cleaning and lawn maintenance at between neighborhood schools by SDP of Business program; facilities teams.
• Inspection, cleaning, sealing, and enforcement of nuisance properties by L+I.
• Removal of unregistered and abandoned automobiles by PPA and PPD.
• Green Stormwater Infrastructure (GSI) and inlet maintenance by PWD.
• Pothole paving by the Streets Department.
• Transit station cleanings by SEPTA

Each agency will be charged with tracking data and capturing the work performed so the city and partners can have a full view of the results of this effort. All the above initiatives will be mapped and visualized at officeofcleanandgreen.org.

Below is a cumulative summary of all the quality-of-life services completed as part of the program.