Clean & Green

Citywide Cleaning and Greening Program

Started:

In June 2024, Mayor Cherelle Parker's administration launched the One Philly, United Citywide Cleaning and Greening Program. Its goal: To clean every neighborhood in the city over a roughly three-month period. The program started last year and now takes place twice a year on a spring/summer and fall/winter schedule.

A Streets Department mechanical broom truck drives down a Philadelphia street. (BIlly Penn file photo)

Progress Updates

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Mayor touts progress on initiatives at State of the City address

(Impacto) In her 2025 State of the City address, Mayor Cherelle Parker highlighted her administration's progress on public safety, education, the environment and economic opportunity. 

Her highlights included: A decline in homicides and shootings, bringing Philadelphia close to a 50-year low; funding for before- and after-school programs that covers 40 public and charter schools through the Extended Day, Extended Year initiative; and city-wide cleaning efforts such as block cleanups, vacant lot maintenance, and expanded twice-a-week trash collection.

Parker also signed Executive Order No. 7-25, formally committing the City to ending street homelessness. The order directs the Office of Homeless Services to facilitate and financially support the operation of 1,000 new shelter beds by January 31, 2026. 

City-Wide Cleaning Program

The program is run by the the Office of Clean and Green Initiatives. It targets issues such as litter, illegal dumping, graffiti, abandoned vehicles, vacant lots, and nuisance properties.

The program operated from May 5 through August 1, 2025. Its progress this cycle can be tracked here. This year, a logo that says “Join the Fight” will be stenciled in areas that have been cleaned.

It generally involves the following process:

  • Notifying the neighborhood through community organizations and media
  • Sending cleaning teams equipped with brooms, shovels, weed trimmers and more to clean trash and clear fence and curb lines.
  • Sending a team of SWEEP officers patrol the cleaned area, giving warnings and citations for deliberate violations

The program is run in collaboration with various city departments, quasi-governmental agencies and nonprofits. This includes the Department of Sanitation, the Police Department’s Neighborhood Services Unit, SEPTA, and the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society.

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