Earth Day Network aims to inspire volunteerism and achieve tangible impacts on waste. Around the world, people have been encouraged to get up, get out and help clean up their communities to create a healthier, more sustainable future.
Internationally, citizens from 157 countries will participate in World Cleanup Day across six continents today, uniting volunteers for a single day of action. From Australia to Thailand, Italy to Chile, volunteers worldwide are united by the common issue of managing and ending global waste.
By working together, Earth Day Network and its partners aim to inspire action and achieve tangible impacts on waste in our environment. Improved health, strong investments and community vibrancy can be achieved once people gain the expectation that their community will be clean. Every person has the right to live in a clean community.
Co-Founder of the U.S.A.’s National Cleanup Day Steve Jewett said, “There is real power in community action, especially around the issue of waste which affects us all. By focusing on the local level, action and attention begins to build toward a global movement.”
Merili Vares, Executive Director at the Let’s Do It Foundation, added, “The need for greater global participation in community cleanups could not come at a more urgent time. Together with the Earth Day Network, we can mobilize whole communities like never before.”
Looking ahead, Earth Day Network president Kathleen Rogers noted, “We are excited to join National Cleanup Day and World Cleanup Day in 2019 and raise momentum globally as we organize for the 50th anniversary of Earth Day in 2020. Building on best practices and lesson learned, our Great Global Cleanup in April 2020 will bring together millions of people around the globe to create the largest coordinated volunteer event in history.”
Earth Day Network’s mission is to diversify, educate, and activate the environmental movement worldwide. Growing out of the first Earth Day in 1970, Earth Day Network works with more than 75,000 partners in 190 countries to build environmental democracy. More than 1bn people now participate in Earth Day activities each year, making it the largest civic observance in the world.
Plastic pollution and waste challenge every community, every day, and these clean ups offer a chance for every person to make a real difference. For my part, I’m joining several neighbours to clean up a local lane running alongside a ditch that has also accumulated all kinds of rubbish over many years. We’ve hired a skip to take away the items we can’t place in our household recycling bins.
Traynor On The Trail 