In April and May, more than 2.7 million people from 20 countries joined the Let’s Do It! cleanups, accompanied by festivals and events to draw attention to the growing problem of illegal waste.
Let’s Do It! cleanup events were held in Belarus (23,000 people), Cyprus (15,000), the Czech Republic (65,000), Greece (60,000), Bosnia and Herzegovina (numbers to be specified), Latvia (190,000), Lithuania (260,000), Ukraine (763,000), Croatia (55,000), Hungary (190,000), Estonia (44,000 people), Montenegro (10,800), Albania (100,000), Kosovo (60,000) and Bulgaria (150,000). Sweden held an extended cleanup campaign over the course of three months, involving almost 768,000 school pupils. Small actions were also held in Italy, Argentina and in Lebanon.
Let’s Do It! World is the outcome of a massive volunteer initiative, pioneered in Estonia in 2008, when 50,000 volunteers cleaned up 10,000 tonnes of illegal waste in just five hours. Officials estimated the initiative saved local governments three years of work and €22,5 million. The idea caught on and has since spread globally, having now grown into a network of about 100 countries.
On 8 September 2018, Let’s Do It! World will organise a massive World Cleanup Day with 150 countries cleaning up waste on the same day.
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Cover: cleanup in Greece (courtesy of Let’s Do It! World)
