Lauch of the 2026 Lone Mitten Project
Coming soon: Map of drop off locations!
About the project
Every year, hundreds of lost and found bins across Ottawa are filled with individual mittens and gloves that don’t have a partner. Meanwhile, vulnerable Ottawa residents would benefit from warm gloves and mittens. To address this, OSEAN and Eco West Enders launched The Lone Mitten Project in 2025 as a proof of concept: Can we collect, clean and match single mittens and then put them into the hands of those who need a little help staying warm?
Well Ottawa, you showed us that not only can this work but it can benefit thousands of residents. In 2025 we estimate that we received at least 5000 unmatched mittens, and generated at least 2000 almost perfect matches! Single mittens will be cleaned and matched up with other similar mittens, and then put into the hands of those in need of warmth.
In 2026 we are at it again. Another thing we learned: t it takes a special team to organize this size of a project. Are you passionate about waste diversion, or circular economy or helping the most vulnerable? Are you a whiz at organizing meetings and planning, maybe you just have boundless energy and need a way to focus it, or you have a few hours a month to help us out. Are you in? Send us an email or fill in our Volunteer Form.
We are targeting Lost and Found bins in schools, libraries, community centres, universities, and places where people tend to lose mittens. Do you have contacts with a local school (board), the City of Ottawa, the National Capital Commission, OC Transpo, Skating arenas, Gyms ?? We hope to have as many organizations as possible on board so no mitten is left behind.
Stay tuned as we plan some in-person activities.
Get involved
We’re looking fo volunteers! There are many ways to pitch in, ranging from mitten processing (washing, sorting, pairing, packaging) to more specific roles like helping with promotion, becoming a mitten collection point, volunteer coordination and driving. Click the button below to fill in our volunteer form.
High School Volunteer? If you like crafting tags, we have roles available right now. Otherwise we will have some roles in late Spring
Listen to our media interviews from 2024/2025
Listen to project lead Marianne chat about the project on CBC’s All in a Day: https://www.cbc.ca/listen/live-radio/1-92-all-in-a-day/clip/16121325-unmatched-orphaned-gloves-mittens-mate
Listen (in French) to volunteer Lynne discuss the project on Radio-Canada’s Sur le vif: https://ici.radio-canada.ca/ohdio/premiere/emissions/sur-le-vif/segments/rattrapage/1984252/projet-lone-mittens-2025
This is a collaborative project between OSEAN and Eco West Enders.