Join us!

Every September and October, groups from across Durham volunteer to pick up litter in their local neighborhoods, parks, and streams for Durham's largest litter cleanup event of the year.

Durham Big Sweep is coordinated by Keep Durham Beautiful, the City of Durham Stormwater Division, and Durham County Soil and Water Conservation District, with help from other City and County departments and so many partners!

Since 2005, 9,898 volunteers have removed an estimated 254,824 pounds of litter from Durham streets, streams, parks, roadsides, and neighborhoods! This event provides countless benefits to the communities involved. It is our biggest litter removal event of the year and an impactful way to Keep Durham Beautiful.

Know of a littered area or have a group that wants to volunteer? We are currently accepting registrations to organize your own cleanup!

Need help selecting a location? No problem - we can help with that too.

Register a big sweep group here!

join an organized cleanup

If you just want to join a pre-existing event, check out our events page here!

See examples of cleanup locations from our 2025 event map below:

support for volunteers

Participating volunteers will receive trash bags, gloves, litter grabbers, and vests, safety instructions, and guidance to find the litter. The City’s Neighborhood Improvement Services Department and Durham County General Services assure that collected litter is properly recycled or sent to the landfill.