City of Cape Girardeau

40th Annual Friends of the Parks Day & The Great Cape Clean Up

Posted on 04/22/2025

40th Annual Friends of the Parks Day & The Great Cape Clean Up

Help clean up & beautify Cape! This event requires many volunteers to plant flower beds, mulch playgrounds, paint playground equipment & much more in various Cape Girardeau parks. Registration begins at 8:30 a.m. & clean up starts at 9:00 a.m. Volunteers are provided lunch & t-shirt (sizes not guaranteed & supplies are limited). Please contact 573-339-6340 to register! If your group wishes to work at a specific park, please contact Kaed Horrell at [email protected] or 573-339-6729. Click here to view the full list of parks.

When: Saturday, April 26, 2025
Location: Capaha Park Shelter #3
Time: Registration begins at 8:30 a.m., clean up from 9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.

Let's Bash the Trash - Litter Cleanups Anytime

The City has solid waste and nuisance programs, and we encourage everyone to do their fair share by picking up their property, keeping garbage bagged, carts secure, helping neighbors, and reporting those routinely out of compliance with City ordinances.

Most of our littering and dumping issues are either on private property, or city property which by ordinance is to be maintained by the adjacent property owner (strip of grass / ditch between street and private property). These places can be very visible and collect trash from the neighborhood and drive-by litterbugs which can be a big frustration for residents and staff.

What You Can Do, and How We Can Help!

• Keep your garbage from blowing around – bag trash, keep carts closed and upright. And remember, no plastic bags in recycling!
• Keep your property clear of litter, and help neighbors or family with their clean-up efforts
• Report nuisance properties online or by calling 573-339-6311. If litter issues become a police department nuisance abatement issue, we must give them official notice and 10 days to remedy the nuisance.
• Schedule a Wednesday Special Pickup – each residential customer gets one FREE each year! Great for whether you have storage or debris to clean out of your basement or yard, or maybe you want to pick up an unsightly area in your neighborhood and get that extra bagged trash picked up.
• Adopt a Street - We will supply bags and dispose of them when you are done. Participants are in charge of coordinating their group and must have pickup events at least monthly. Learn more and apply.

Explore all of our solid waste programs for yard waste, debris drop-off and more at cityofcape.org/solidwaste