Philadelphia’s Office of Clean and Green Initiatives will bring its citywide cleanup to Chestnut Hill and other Northwest Philadelphia neighborhoods in early December.

The biannual 13–week program began in Northeast Philadelphia on Nov. 3 and will end in northern parts of the city by Jan. 30. The Office of Clean and Green Initiatives is partnering with multiple agencies and nonprofits to address issues such as litter, illegal dumping, graffiti, abandoned vehicles, vacant lots and nuisance properties, the city announced in a press release.

The program is scheduled to clean the streets of Chestnut Hill, West Mt. Airy, West Germantown, Roxborough and Manayunk on Dec. 8-12. Cleanup crews will then move to East Mt. Airy, East Germantown and Cedarbrook on Dec. 15-19. Residents can monitor the city’s progress and make specific cleanup requests at officeofcleanandgreen.org.

The program’s schedule also coincides with the Sanitation Department’s seven–week Fall Leaf Recycling Program, so Northwest Philadelphia residents can have their leaves collected by the city to be recycled during those weeks in December.

Mayor Cherelle Parker first launched the citywide cleanup program in 2024, and since then, the city has cleaned 50,000 blocks and planted more than 1,000 trees, according to the release. The programs are implemented every spring and fall, in addition to the Philly Spring Cleanup day.

“History has demonstrated that efforts from a one–time cleaning of the entire city cannot be maintained alone,” the release reads. “Preventive measures, enforcement and support from residents and businesses keeping their areas clean are necessary to sustain cleaning efforts.”

Shari Hersh, co–director of the Trash Academy advocacy group, said she supports the biannual citywide cleanups, but it’s not a long–term solution to littering and illegal dumping Philadelphia.

Last year, Trash Academy collected trash at 24 legacy dump sites just two weeks after the citywide cleanup. The group returned to the same neighborhood two weeks later and collected at 20 more sites, where trash had returned.

“We think [the cleanups are] really good. It’s kind of like housekeeping … every spring and every fall,” she said. “But we just want to see more focus on waste diversion, more focus on prevention, so there’s less waste to manage.”

Mayor Parker and the Office of Clean and Green Initiatives have launched a series of initiatives to make the city cleaner, including a city–run task force to catch illegal dumpers. Last year, the mayor launched a twice–a–week trash collection program in Center City and South Philadelphia.

How to participate in the leaf collection program

City workers have collected leaves in Chestnut Hill during previous leaf recycling programs. However, they have struggled from year to year to clean leaves on some blocks by Germantown Avenue where there are substantial numbers of parked cars. The City requires that residents move their cars off the street “if possible” to have their leaves collected.

As an alternative, residents can drop off bagged leaves at the City’s six sanitation convenience centers up until Dec. 20. These centers are open Monday through Saturday from 8 a.m.–6 p.m.

Another option is to take bagged leaves to one of the 13 drop–off sites in Philadelphia on Nov. 8 and 22 and Dec. 6, 13 and 20 from 9 a.m.–3 p.m. There are four drop–off locations in Northwest Philadelphia: Happy Hollow Recreation Center (4800 Wayne Ave.); East Cathedral Road and Ridge Avenue; West Gravers Lane and Seminole Street; and Washington Lane and Ardleigh Street.

But for those who can move their cars off the street, the city will collect leaves from Northwest Philadelphia neighborhoods from Dec. 8–12 and from Dec. 15–19. On collection day, residents must rake their leaves into the street by 7 a.m. and must not bag them.

The city said its leaf collection program is an essential cleaning service because fallen leaves end up in the waste stream and clog sewer trains. However, environmental experts recommend that residents let the leaves stay year-round to better support the soil and provide shelter to pollinators and other native insects.

Abby Weiss is an environmental reporter for the Local and a Report for America corps member. She can be reached at Abby@chestnuthilllocal.com.