---
title: "Estonian-founded global clean-up movement wins UNESCO-Japan prize"
id: "31784"
type: "post"
slug: "estonian-founded-global-clean-up-movement-wins-unesco-japan-prize"
published_at: "2018-10-08T09:45:28+00:00"
modified_at: "2019-01-28T14:37:52+00:00"
url: "https://estonianworld.com/life/estonian-founded-global-clean-up-movement-wins-unesco-japan-prize/"
markdown_url: "https://estonianworld.com/life/estonian-founded-global-clean-up-movement-wins-unesco-japan-prize.md"
excerpt: "The Estonian-founded global clean-up initiative, the Let’s Do It Foundation, is one of the three winners of the 2018 edition of the UNESCO-Japan Prize. The […]"
taxonomy_category:
  - "Life"
taxonomy_post_tag:
  - "Environment"
  - "Let's Do It! World"
taxonomy_post_format:
  - ""
publisher: "Estonian World"
language: "en-GB"
author: "Silver Tambur"
author_url: "https://estonianworld.com/author/silver/"
---

# Estonian-founded global clean-up movement wins UNESCO-Japan prize

![Image](https://estonianworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/World-Cleanup-Day-in-Fiji-ready-to-start-1024x768.jpg)

By  [Silver Tambur](https://estonianworld.com/author/silver/)
  ·  October 8, 2018  · [Life](https://estonianworld.com/category/life/)
 · 2 minutes of reading

### **The Estonian-founded global clean-up initiative, the Let’s Do It Foundation, is one of the three winners of the 2018 edition of the UNESCO-Japan Prize.**

The Let’s Do It Foundation won the prize for its international projects, the “World Cleanup Day” and “Keep it Clean.”

The UNESCO-Japan Prize is funded by the government of Japan and recognises the role of education in connecting the social, economic, cultural and environmental dimensions of sustainable development.

The [Let’s Do It! movement started in Estonia in 2008](https://estonianworld.com/life/crazy-estonian-idea-urges-people-clean-countries-one-day/)
 when 50,000 people came together and cleaned up the entire country in five hours. The initiative has since grown into a global operation and engaged over 35 million environmentally savvy volunteers around the world.

[https://estonianworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Lets-do-it-world.jpg](https://estonianworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Lets-do-it-world.jpg)
On 15 September 2018, the movement organised the “World Cleanup Day” which gathered an estimated 13 million volunteers in 159 countries to clean their countries of waste pollution in a single day.

### **Positive impact**

“Picking up waste around you is the easiest way to show you care about your environment,” [Eva Truuverk](https://estonianworld.com/life/eva-truuverk-queen-global-clean/)
, a board member of the Let’s Do It Foundation, said in a statement. “It is a small action which can have a huge positive impact.”

Merili Vares, the foundation’s head of global partnerships and finance, added that according to studies, clean-up campaigns in poverty-stricken slums have a positive effect on reducing crime and improving the health of residents – and even have an impact on climate change. “In addition, the data collected by the [World Cleanup] app has huge educational value and is very useful for local governments to come up with long-term solutions.”

The foundation will receive the prize, which rewards the three winners with USD50,000 each, at a special ceremony at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris on 9 October 2018.

I

Cover: The World Cleanup Day ready to start in Fiji island on 15 September 2018 (courtesy of [World Cleanup Day](https://www.worldcleanupday.org/)
).

## About The Author

![Avatar photo](https://estonianworld.com/wp-content/uploads/local-avatars/2/1572652467-bpfull-100x100.jpg)

[Silver Tambur](https://estonianworld.com/author/silver/)
Silver Tambur, co-founder and publisher of *Estonian World*, studied journalism at the University of Tartu and politics at Birkbeck, University of London. He has edited Estonian Public Broadcasting’s English news and contributed to *Business Sense*, *Deutsche Welle*, and *Radio New Zealand*. He is currently editor-in-chief of *Trialoog*, TalTech’s business and research portal. You can also follow him on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/SilverTambur)
 and like [his page on Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/silvertamburpage/)
. You can write to Silver at [silver@estonianworld.com](mailto:silver@estonianworld.com)
.