DPW works every day to keep litter off of our sidewalks and streets and helps to keep our community a beautiful and vibrant place to live. The top litter culprits are cigarettes, gum, and food wrappers. This page provides information about our efforts to fight litter and offers ideas about what you can do to be a part of the campaign against litter!
Report Litter
If you see litter in your neighborhood, report it! Call 311 or submit an online service request.
Prevent Illegal Dumping
Illegal dumping attracts more dumping and other activities that you do not want in your neighborhood, such as increased litter, graffiti and blight. An average of 24 tons of refuse left on the streets and in vacant lots is hauled away daily.
Volunteer
You are the City's main ally in the fight against litter. Find out how you can get involved.
Mechanical Street Sweeping Program
DPW sweeps more than 150,000 curb miles and removes 24,000 tons of litter and debris from San Francisco's streets annually. Learn more about schedules and locations.
Anti-Litter Campaign
Mayor Gavin Newsom: "Litter is something that we can prevent and it's important that we all continue to educate others and each do our part to ensure that our city is clean and free of trash." Check out campaign materials.
Community Corridors Partnerships
The Corridors Program improves the quality of life on busy San Francisco merchant corridors by cleaning sidewalks, painting over graffiti, providing education and outreach; and repairing streets and sidewalks.
Litter Receptacles
DPW maintains 3,500 City litter receptacles on city sidewalks.
News Rack Program
The City's News Rack Ordinance aims to reduce the amount of sidewalk clutter associated with free standing news racks by requiring Fixed Pedestal News Racks in their place.
Unwanted Handbills and Newspapers
Unwanted newspapers and handbills can find their way onto the sidewalks and streets, attracting more litter. Learn about how to stop deliveries of unwanted leaflets and papers to your home.
Reporting Blight
Litter contributes to eyesores in the community that can lead to neighborhood blight. Learn about what the city is doing about blight and how to report it.
Fun Activities for Kids
Check out the SF Environment's fun page with resources and activities for kids to learn more about taking care of the environment.
Litter Audits:
Read some of the important and educational reports about litter in San Francisco: 2007 San Francisco Streets Litter Audit (Adobe Acrobat/Reader Version 8 or 9 is required), and the 2008 San Francisco Streets Litter Re-Audit (Adobe Acrobat/Reader Version 8 or 9 is required).
Related Links:
San Francisco City Clean Coalition is a non-profit organization that focuses on cleaning, greening and beautifying the City of San Francisco.
Coastal Cleanup is the largest volunteer cleanup event in California. In 2008, volunteers worked together to collect more than 1,600,000 pounds of trash and recyclables from our beaches, lakes, and waterways.
Do you have ideas about keeping San Francisco beautiful and clean? Email us.
