bloor west village toronto

This group of older men are keeping Toronto's streets clean

If you live in a certain Toronto neighbourhood, you have a specific group of older men to thank for keeping the area's streets clean.

They call themselves the "Bloor West Trash Walkers" and they voluntarily meet up to clean the streets with trash picking tools in hand.

They've been doing their act of good will without any advertisement, but the local BIA recently found out about what they were doing and felt it couldn't go unnoticed: so much so, it inspired them to create whole new program based around giving back.

"There are a lot of community members who give back in many ways," Bloor West Village BIA executive director Angela Macdonald tells blogTO. 

"This has inspired the BIA to create a program that will acknowledge community spirit in Bloor West Village. We want to highlight the people who make a difference. We also have high school volunteers who help make our community initiatives and events possible."

In late April, they did something in this spirit with a "Pay It Forward Day" where they partnered with local businesses like cafes, bakeries and pet stores to surprise people with free gifts. Now, they're doing something similar to thank the Trash Walkers.

"We plan to ackowledge the mens' contribution with a certificate and a gift card of $25 each for a restaurant of their choice in BWV," says Macdonald.

A Bloor West Village BIA representative says one of the men "was delighted" about the gift cards from the BIA and that "recognizing peoples' contribution helps to inspire others." 

They chose local pub, A Dark Horse, as the place they'd receive a gift card for.

Apparently some kids have been getting on the cleanups with the older guys lately, and school children even cheer them on when they walk by.

It shouldn't be our youngest and oldest who are on the hook for keeping our streets nice and clean, but we have to applaud them for it.

Lead photo by

Bloor West Village BIA


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