World Cleanup Day-Clean Seas and Happy Trees

Photo by Eventbrite

What do you think is the biggest day of the year for our environment? (Well besides Earth Day of course)

Did you guess World Cleanup Day? Then you are correct!

On September 15th every year, responsible citizens from over 150 countries come together and pitch in to clean up litter and waste that have seeped into our oceans, coastlines, rivers and covered our forests all around the world. The movement began 10 years ago in Estonia as a small grassroots movement where 4% of the entire country’s population came out to clean up waste that had been illegally dumped there.

Since then, the Estonia-inspired “Let’s do it” campaign has spread around the globe making World Cleanup Day one of the most productive days for giving back to our environment by cleaning up some of the pollution that has been left behind. On their website (letsdoitworld.org) you can see all of the different countries that will be participating in the events on September 15th from Indonesia to Brazil to Canada.

From the foundation’s creation in 2008, 18 million volunteers worldwide have participated in cleanups as a part of this initiative. Data collected from the cleanups has been sorted into their interactive waste map, where the amount of trash picked up in each country is listed. For example, in Hong Kong, there has been 10 tons of trash accumulated and analyzed in the World Cleanup App. The data used from the app helps to assess progress and also prepare for future cleanups, which is necessary as cleanup teams assemble and new projects come to life.

In Sea Going Green’s home city of Amsterdam, The Netherlands, the Plastic Soup Foundation is helping to organize events around the country to pick up trash and other pollution that has made its way into the local environment. The foundation is calling upon everyone to make a difference, whether it be through joining an organized clean up or even taking matters into your own hands by cleaning up your local neighborhood! Don’t worry, you don’t have to be in The Netherlands to take part in this, you can lend a helping hand anywhere you are in the world. If you are in The Netherlands, The Plastic Soup Foundation and partner Nudge, will be tracking the amount of trash picked up and analyzing the data through the Litterati App. We will definitely be keeping an eye out to see what the numbers say about our imprint here in The Netherlands so that we can spread awareness to help consumers cut down on their use of single-use plastics, while encouraging sustainable alternatives.

You might be wondering what you can do to help take part in this big day for our planet? Here we have a comprehensive list of suggestions on how to plan, clean and make the most of World Cleanup Day 2018:

-Stir up a conversation with friends and neighbors about doing a cleanup! Call the local media and spread the news about a cleanup that you are planning. Share your passion for the environment and inspire a cleanup on social media!

-Clean up in pairs, two hands are better than one. ;)

-Install the Litterati App, which lets you track the trash that you have accumulated

-Stock up on garbage bags and gloves for your cleanup for sanitary purposes

-Wear a cool logo or accessory to make your clean up team stand out

-Ask locals about the proper facilities needed for recycling and waste processing

-Make it a competition, reward the person/ team that picks up the most trash

-Do something creative with the materials that you pick up such as collecting bottle caps to be repurposed...etc. See Precious Plastic

-Plan out the area that you will work on so that you can make the most of your time

-Post the photos that you have taken of the waste that has been collected to spread awareness on our use of plastics

-Celebrate your efforts and treat yourself for doing some good for our planet!

Have we convinced you to take part in World Cleanup Day? Make sure to send us your cleanup photos along with a blurb about where the cleanup took place and what inspired you to get involved and we’ll feature you on our social media! Email us @ melissa@seagoinggreen.org or tag our social media accounts @SeaGoingGreen.

Don’t forget to use our hashtag #GoGreenForTheBigBlue ;)