World Cleanup Day Starts in 12 hours

The small island nation of Fiji will be the starting point for an historical global marathon of civic action that sweeps across the planet on 15 September. Millions of volunteers throughout 156 countries will act as one to carry out a World Cleanup Day, finishing in American Samoa.

"The aim of the World Cleanup Day is not just to clean up the waste, but to be an uncompromising eye-opener about the severity of the global mismanaged waste crisis. We are going to deliver the biggest experiential environmental lesson ever carried out on Earth and this puts us a big step closer to start dealing with the root causes of it. Because only our collective awareness and strong public pressure on our policymakers and enterprises will bring forth the necessary steps," said Eva Truuverk, the head of the managing board of the Let's do it! movement, propelling the World Cleanup Day.

Waste that is dumped on land ends up in our oceans. It is estimated that 80% of the waste floating around in oceans is mismanaged waste carried to the sea through our beaches and waterways. Therefore, working together on land with local leaders, governments and organisations is the first urgent step in protecting nature in both water and on land.

"Through this action we want to support and connect a new generation of community leaders, who are ready to act together to find lasting solutions. Our leaders in different countries are very determined people, willing to work against cultural prejudices, ignorance, climatic challenges, corruption and other very challenging circumstances to bring forth new perspectives, and bring their vision to life," Eva Truuverk pointed out.

World Cleanup Day is being propelled by the civic movement Let's do it! World, which has been initiating cleanup actions across 113 countries throughout the last decade, with over 20 million volunteers taking part in total. World Cleanup Day organisers are hoping to engage millions of volunteers during the 30-hour cleanup marathon and at least double the number of people engaged in the cleanup actions so far. Many countries are aiming for the magic number of 5% of their country's population to instigate a profound shift in the values and norms of their society; a new level of awareness that then can transform into public pressure to bring forth reforms in waste management policies and regulations.

Let's do it! World has also proven to be a movement of peace and bridge building. "In many countries and regions, this cause has already united groups and cultures that have been defining themselves through differences, bringing with it not just cleaner and healthier environments, but also a realisation that true cooperation and understanding is possible," added Anneli Ohvril, a member of the managing board of the Let's do it! movement, propelling the World Cleanup Day.

World Cleanup Day events can be followed through the homepage www.letsdoitworld.org, where regular updates and news from the cleanups will be posted from the start to the end of the global action. Starting from 22:00 UTC, the 24-hour, non-stop World Cleanup Live Show will cover the cleanups across the globe. The show is hosted by Irish TV presenter and producer Colm Flynn and TV presenter Zihlo Ndlovu from Zimbabwe and will be broadcast from Tallinn, Estonia. It will be aired via the World Cleanup Day website https://www.worldcleanupday.org/ and also via Facebook and YouTube channels. After airing, all the original video content will be immediately available on Youtube (www.youtube.com/letsdoitworld) and free to use for media. Everyone is encouraged to share the Live Show through embedding it to their own channels. The live broadcast ends at 22:00 UTC on the following day (Sept 15th).

World Cleanup Day Live Show teaser: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MngIAxDaN6I

The Let's do it! World movement began in the small Northern European tech-savvy country of Estonia in 2008, when 50,000 people came together to clean up the entire country in just five hours. Technology created by former Skype chief architect and co-founder of Starship Technologies, Ahti Heinla, enabled the organising team to map more than 10,000 trashpoints before the cleanup and arrange the work of 50,000 volunteers. Together they collected more than 10,000 tons of mismanaged waste from the nature and public areas.

LDIW is working on a Keep It Clean Plan; suggestions for businesses, governments, citizens and NGOs to implement specific steps which help tackle the global challenge of mismanaged waste. A short overview of the suggestions for governments, enterprises, NGOs and individuals, that can also be found in the Keep It Clean Plan, was announced already on the 6th of September as the Keep It Clean Roadmap. The full Keep It Clean Plan will be published, together with the results of the World Cleanup Day, on the 16th of September.

The year 2018 marks 100 years since the founding of the Republic of Estonia. World Cleanup Day 2018 is Estonia's biggest gift to the world on its 100th anniversary. More information about the centenary events can be found at www.EV100.ee

More information:

Website:  www.worldcleanupday.org

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/worldcleanupday2018/

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/letsdoitworld

Tiina Urm, Head of Communication

Ph.  +372-53000515

E-mail: tiina.urm@letsdoitworld.org

Skype:  tiinaurm