Keep Clean
A cleaner city, one Saturday morning at a time. Cape Town is downhill and downwind of itself — so catching it early is far cheaper than catching it in the surf.
Join a clean-up
Small. Visible. Repeatable.
41 250
bags of litter collected
268
clean-ups held this year
74
suburbs taking part
A cleaner city, one Saturday morning at a time
Cape Town is downhill and downwind of itself. A packet dropped in Bellville ends up in a vlei, then on a beach. Catching it early is far cheaper than catching it in the surf.
That is the whole argument for Keep Clean. Not that litter is untidy, but that it moves, and it always ends up somewhere we care about.
Clean-ups, adopted stormwater drains, bin-day discipline. Small, visible, repeatable. A Saturday is two hours, gloves, bags and usually a stranger who becomes a familiar face. No experience needed and no commitment beyond the morning you show up for.
It extends momentum the City already has. Existing seasonal clean-up drives get a permanent home and a year-round audience. Cleared drains before winter is direct cost avoidance on flooding, blockages and emergency callouts. And it photographs beautifully — before-and-after is the most shareable civic content there is.
Find one near me
Eight ways to keep it clean
Clean-ups, adopted stormwater drains, bin-day discipline. Some take two minutes. Some take a Saturday. All of them count.
Three pieces, every walk
On the way to the car, the shop, the school gate. Three pieces is small enough that you will actually keep doing it.
Keep a bag in the boot
The gap between wanting to help and helping is usually just not having a bag on you.
Bin day discipline
Out the night before, in the same afternoon. An overturned bin on a windy street undoes a whole morning's work.
Adopt a drain
One stormwater drain near you, cleared of leaves and packets. This is the single highest-value thing on this list when the rain comes.
Join a Saturday
Two hours, gloves provided. Most people arrive not knowing anybody and leave with two new numbers.
Take the before photo
Nobody believes how much changes in two hours until they see the same corner side by side.
Sort your recycling properly
Rinsed, dry, separated. A contaminated bag of recycling goes to landfill like everything else.
Start one on your street
Six neighbours, a date and a meeting point is a clean-up. We bring the equipment and the paperwork.
Join a clean-up
Tell us where you are and we will send you the next one nearby. Gloves, bags and grabbers are provided — bring a hat and water.
See you there.
We will email you as soon as the next clean-up near you is set.
Before and after, by residents
Two hours is all that separates these pairs.
Want to start your own?
You need four things: a date, a meeting point, a bin the bags can legally go into, and about six people. We help with the rest — equipment, a heads-up to the local depot, and a post to get your neighbours there.
Most first-time organisers say the hardest part was sending the first message in the group chat.
Start one with us