cleanups

Cleanups is the plural form of cleanup and refers to processes that remove unwanted material or restore order. In common usage, it designates actions intended to make a place, system, or dataset cleaner and more functional.

Environmental cleanups include community litter pickups, hazardous waste removals, and remediation of contaminated soil or water. These efforts may be organized by governments, businesses, or volunteers and often involve assessment, removal, treatment, and restoration of affected areas. Notable examples include shoreline cleanups and larger environmental remediation projects governed by environmental regulations or statutes such as Superfund programs.

In data management, data cleaning or data cleansing is the process of identifying and correcting errors, removing duplicates, and standardizing formats to improve accuracy. In office or household contexts, cleanups involve tidying spaces, reorganizing inventories, and disposing of obsolete items.

In computing, cleanup refers to releasing resources no longer needed, such as closing files, freeing memory, or deleting temporary files. Programming languages include explicit cleanup constructs, and automated garbage collection handles memory cleanup.

Across domains, cleanups aim to reduce hazards, improve efficiency, and prepare systems for ongoing use.