The Great Global Cleanup
Our Favorite Cleanups From This Year’s World Cleanup Day
October 10, 2024
This World Cleanup Day on September 20th, hundreds of millions of people all over the planet joined together to improve the health of their communities by cleaning up the environment. This year is special as it marks the first time World Cleanup Day has been officially recognized on the United Nations Calendar of International Days and Weeks. This milestone is a testament to the relentless advocacy and dedication of volunteers worldwide. Our Global Partners got extra busy this year. Check out some of our favorite cleanups for World Cleanup Day 2024.
Miami, USA
Clean Miami Beach
Photos
Clean Miami Beach hosted a massive cleanup, removing over 3,100 pounds of trash from the environment with 185 dedicated volunteers. In this cleanup, volunteers collected and audited the garbage to find out what all the trash was made from.
There was no surprise in finding that the majority of the waste was made of plastic; they collectively removed nearly 1,000 plastic water bottles, hundreds of grocery bags, thousands of pieces of plastic and foam (which degrade into tiny toxic pieces that are difficult to remove called microplastics and enter our food and water and ultimately us), four shopping carts, and one voodoo doll. Yes, you heard that right, one voodoo doll.
What’s more frightening than voodoo dolls? New studies that have found countless associations with microplastics and human health issues, from cancer to immune disorders, many of them outlined in our report, Babies vs. Plastics.
Clean Miami Beach, founded by Sophie Ringel, started as a small movement of friends cleaning up beaches and wetlands in Florida, but it quickly grew on social media, and to date they have hosted 384 cleanups, removing over 100,000 pounds of trash and plastic pollution from the environment.
Chicago, USA
Chicago Beach CleanUp
The Windy City showed up with the youth-led environmental NGO, Chicago Beach CleanUp, co-founded by Sam Stubbs and Lou Ellstrand. You Can hear more from Co-founder Sam Stubbs during his interview on Earth Day Live: From Vision to Action – Cleanup Changemakers Creating a Waste-Free World. They hosted 12 cleanups this month protecting the beautiful beaches along the coast of Lake Michigan.
At the heart of Chicago Beach CleanUp’s mission is community engagement, with a focus on underserved communities. Recently, they partnered with EARTHDAY.ORG to create the Lakeland Leadership program, providing leadership opportunities to youth who may not otherwise have access. Over six weeks, the inaugural class participated in mentorship sessions, and resume-building workshops, and organized and led their cleanup events.
On World Cleanup Day, they hosted an after-work cleanup at North Avenue Beach, drawing a dedicated group of volunteers, including Miss Illinois Earth USA, Gissell Bahena. It was a monumental successful event and we know it will continue to grow.
Lagos, Nigeria
Green Janitors
Green Janitors, an environmental NGO based in Lagos, the capital of Nigeria, geared up for World Cleanup Day 2024. Led by activist Ashade Abdulsalam, the organization coordinated over forty cleanups across the city of Lagos with the focus of curbing disease which is exacerbated by the presence of free-roaming trash. More than 2,100 volunteers participated, removing at least 50 full bags of trash at each location.
By the end of the event, over 2,500 bags of waste and plastic pollution had been collected.
Ahead of the cleanups, Green Janitors hosted a panel discussion with NGO leaders, waste management professionals, and medical doctors, focusing on waste management, sanitation, plastic pollution, and long-term solutions to Nigeria’s waste crisis. One of the key themes in the discussion was protecting public health, and how pollution worsens health epidemics. In addition to the ongoing Cholera epidemic in Nigeria, microplastics are known to be breeding grounds for diseases and bacteria.
The panel also highlighted the broader health impacts of plastic, including links to issues such as impaired human development, dementia, fertility problems, and cancer.
Watch the full webinar here to learn more about Nigeria’s waste problem and solutions presented by activists and experts.
Lahiana, Hawaii, USA
Lahainatown Action Committee
Despite the ravaging wildfires a year ago, Lahaina still came together to host their 20th annual cleanup. In early August 2023, a series of wildfires broke out in Hawaii killing over 100 people and causing damages of over $5.5 billion. Still, that did not deter the town of Lahaina and the organizer, Lahainatown Action Committee, from continuing their tradition and meeting this September to clean up and protect their community from trash and plastic pollution.
Vietnam
Gogreen
As always, EARTHDAY.ORG partner Gogreen led a stunning cleanup in the canals of Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam. Despite challenging weather conditions during the storm season, the young volunteers fearlessly immersed themselves in the polluted, and foul-smelling canals to remove the waste that had overwhelmed them.
This cleanup was part of a huge effort over the last two months with 380 volunteers, removing over 165 tons of trash from over 1300 meters of canals.
With over 11M views on social media over the past two months, Gogreen works to educate and inspire those in Vietnam and globally on TikTok. We think they achieved that and more!
Denmark
Nordic Ocean Watch Denmark
In Copenhagen, Nordic Ocean Watch Denmark took action for World Cleanup Day 2024, with volunteers active on the water preventing trash from flowing into the river. A large portion of the trash they removed was cigarette butts which are particularly dangerous because if they reach water they can leach out toxic chemicals into the water poisoning fish, and adding more plastic into the environment as the butts are primarily made of plastic cellulose acetate.
Nordic Ocean Watch Denmark continues to push for change, raising awareness about this overlooked environmental challenge while engaging the community with cleanups.
India
EARTH DAY NETWORK INDIA
In Mumbai, our very own Earth Day Network India made a massive impact with an extraordinary cleanup on one of the city’s major beaches. The event, held on September 21, 2024, saw an impressive collaboration with the Indian Coast Guard, who not only supported the initiative but also brought out drones and helicopters to document the day’s activities. In what resembled a scene straight out of a movie set, 1,500 volunteers worked alongside the Indian Coast Guard to make a big difference.
This initiative marks a pivotal moment in Mumbai’s ongoing battle against beach pollution, showing how communities and authorities can join forces to protect the environment and shame the plastic manufacturers in the process for not cleaning up their own mess.
Earth Day Network India’s leadership in organizing this event is a testament to their dedication to fighting plastic pollution and warning people about the health risks associated with microplastics and their additive chemicals.
Armenia
Maqoor NGO
No stranger to clean ups, this past Earth Day, Maqoor organized several successful cleanup events with EARTHDAY.ORG directly so they were keen to mark World Clean Up Day too.
This year Maqoor’s regional leaders coordinated cleanups throughout the entire country of Armenia. Maqoor National Coordinator, Mkrtich Grigoryan, who was on the ground at many of them emphasized the significance of the event, saying, “The cleanup highlights the power of collective action for a greener Armenia. We’ve not only restored a cherished public space but also sparked a movement toward lasting environmental responsibility.”
The U.S. Embassy Yerevan Green Team also joined the movement and in collaboration with Maqoor NGO and the Yerevan Municipality, organized a clean-up at Victory Park of Yerevan, Armenia’s ancient capital, further supporting the cause.
Maqoor NGO is a dynamic youth-led environmental organization powered by a passionate group of youth volunteers, primarily aged 14-19, showcasing how powerful Armenia’s youth environmental movement is becoming.
