Burke Mountain Community Cleanup Day Brings Coquitlam Together

Sep 21

On Saturday, September 19, 2026, over 150 people from our community came together once again for the Burke Mountain Community Cleanup Day in Coquitlam.

This marked our second Burke Mountain cleanup and our third community cleanup overall in Coquitlam, continuing a growing local effort to bring residents, businesses, community organizations and local leaders together to care for the parks, trails and neighbourhoods we all share.

By the final count, volunteers had removed an incredible 3,503 cigarette butts, along with enough garbage to fill approximately two pickup trucks.

Every cigarette butt and piece of litter removed is one less item that can make its way into our soil, storm drains, creeks and surrounding natural environment.

Cleaning 12 Parks, 4 Trails, Schools and Community Hotspots

Our volunteers spread out across Burke Mountain and the surrounding Coquitlam community to tackle 12 parks, 4 trails, several schools and known litter hotspots.

Rather than focusing only on highly visible areas, teams were encouraged to seek out places where garbage tends to accumulate and where additional attention could make the biggest difference.

From neighbourhood parks and walking trails to school grounds, sidewalks and more challenging problem areas, volunteers worked throughout the community to leave these spaces cleaner than we found them.

A Community Effort From Start to Finish

A huge thank you goes to everyone who attended and spent their Saturday helping make Burke Mountain and Coquitlam cleaner.

We were grateful to welcome families, students, local residents, business owners, community groups and elected officials, including MLA Jodie Wickens and members of Coquitlam City Council, along with council, mayoral and school board trustee candidates participating in the 2026 municipal election, who came out to support the event and the volunteers doing the work.

Ed Hall, former Chief of the kʷikʷəƛ̓əm (Kwikwetlem) First Nation, is always our honoured opening speaker at these community cleanups, sharing words of inspiration and encouragement with the group before everyone heads out into the community. We are incredibly grateful for his continued presence and support.

We especially wanted to recognize the Centennial Secondary Trash Club, Beavers and Scouts Canada participants, MLA Jodie Wickens' volunteer team, and the Coquitlam Express hockey team for coming out and getting involved.

Seeing young people working alongside parents, neighbours, community leaders and volunteers is a reminder that environmental stewardship is something we can build across generations.

Tackling Some of Burke Mountain's Most Challenging Areas

This cleanup wasn't just about picking up everyday litter.

Our collaborator Carl from Web of Life took on one of the most difficult areas of the day: an abandoned encampment where a significant amount of garbage had accumulated.

With the help of a couple of extremely dedicated volunteers, the team hauled out a large pile of abandoned waste and helped restore an area that required considerably more work than a typical cleanup location.

Their willingness to take on such a challenging section made a major difference, and we are incredibly thankful for their effort.

Coquitlam Express Players Step Up at Queenston Park

A special shoutout goes to Coquitlam Express hockey players #74, #31 and #1, who stepped up to provide extra help at an especially troubled litter hotspot next to Queenston Park.

The players put in the additional effort needed to clean an area that had accumulated a substantial amount of waste.

What stood out to us was seeing these young men spending their time out in the community and setting a positive example for the next generation. Having young athletes willing to get their hands dirty, work alongside local residents and give back to the community is exactly the kind of leadership we love to see.

Taking Action on Cigarette Butt Pollution

One of the most concerning results from our community cleanups continues to be the sheer number of discarded cigarette butts we find.

This event alone resulted in 3,503 cigarette butts being removed from the environment.

Cigarette butts are more than an eyesore. Chemicals can leach from discarded cigarette filters into soil and water, where they can negatively affect aquatic life. Improperly discarded cigarettes can also create a serious and preventable fire risk, particularly around dry grass, trails and forested areas.

We have written a letter to MLA Jodie Wickens and MP Ron McKinnon regarding the environmental impact of discarded cigarette butts and plan to continue following up on the issue.

Our goal is to encourage stronger prevention at several levels. One of the measures we are advocating for is requiring cigarette companies to include portable ashtrays or appropriate portable disposal solutions with cigarette sales. Even a modest reduction in improperly discarded cigarettes could mean fewer filters entering our parks, waterways and natural spaces, while reducing opportunities for preventable fires to start.

Our letter also raises the importance of forest fire prevention and the potential to reduce avoidable wildfire-fighting costs by preventing human-caused fires before they begin. We would like to see stronger public education around proper cigarette disposal, environmental contamination and fire prevention, including better use of government television advertising space and other public-awareness channels to keep these messages visible.

Another pattern we continue to notice during our cleanups is that some of the worst concentrations of cigarette litter are around active construction sites and new developments.

We believe there is an opportunity for stronger education, clearer expectations and better enforcement around cigarette disposal at job sites, particularly in growing communities like Burke Mountain where construction activity can sit close to homes, parks, trails, dry vegetation and forested areas.

Providing workers with convenient cigarette-disposal options, reinforcing site expectations and improving education for contractors, workers and development teams could be another relatively simple way to reduce both litter and fire risk.

Our community cleanups allow us to deal with the pollution that is already there. Long-term, we want to help move the conversation toward prevention, education and practical solutions that stop cigarette butts from reaching the environment in the first place.

Thank You to Our Sponsors and Community Partners

An event of this size would not be possible without the local businesses and organizations that stepped up to support it.

A huge thank you to our title sponsor Wesbild, along with Infinity Properties, StreetSide Developments, GardenWorks, Sandpiper Signs and Decals, Return-It, Coquitlam Search and Rescue, Emilio Finatti Pizza, Tapped Wrestling Federation, Coquitlam Express Hockey, DMACK Driving School, WhatsOn Tri-Cities, Soul Bite Food, Food Link, Kelly Fry Team, Rocky Point Ice Cream and Cassandra Cake Co.

Their support helped us provide the supplies, food, equipment, resources and prizes that made the cleanup welcoming and fun for the community.

Our volunteer prizes included:

8 × $25 GardenWorks gift cards
T-shirts from Return-It
3 survival kits from Coquitlam Search and Rescue
A $100 gift card from Emilio Finatti Pizza
2 tickets from Tapped Wrestling Federation
2 tickets from Coquitlam Express Hockey
1 free lesson from DMACK Driving School
20 free scoop tickets from Rocky Point Ice Cream

We are incredibly grateful to have local businesses and organizations willing to invest directly back into Burke Mountain and the wider Coquitlam community.

Support From the Coquitlam Foundation

We would also like to thank the Coquitlam Foundation for helping cover some of the expenses associated with the event through its Community Event Grant.

Community events come with costs ranging from cleanup supplies and equipment to signage, food and logistics. Support from programs like this helps grassroots environmental initiatives continue to grow and gives more residents an opportunity to participate.

3,503 Cigarette Butts and Two Truckloads of Garbage Removed

The numbers are impressive, but what they represent is even more important.

3,503 cigarette butts. Two pickup trucks full of garbage. 12 parks. 4 trails. Schools, sidewalks and community hotspots. And a community willing to give up part of its weekend to take care of the place we all call home.

Now with two Burke Mountain cleanups and three community cleanups completed across Coquitlam, the initiative continues to grow with every event.

These cleanups have always been about more than simply picking up garbage. They are about environmental stewardship, community pride and showing what is possible when residents take ownership of the parks, trails and neighbourhoods around them.

Thank you again to every volunteer, sponsor, collaborator, elected official, candidate, community leader and organization that helped make the September 19, 2026 Burke Mountain Community Cleanup possible.

Together, we're continuing to work toward a cleaner Burke Mountain, a cleaner Coquitlam and a stronger community.

Thank you for reading. If you are interested in participating in or sponsoring any of our community events, please reach out to boroandbeyond@gmail.com.