World Cleanup Day: The Impact of Global Movements for The Environment
- The Cleanup Team
- 3 days ago
- 6 min read
By Reegan Phillips, Great Lakes Plastic Cleanup Community Engagement Coordinator for Georgian Bay
The Great Lakes Plastic Cleanup (GLPC) recognizes the Williams Treaties, Robinson-Huron Treaty, Saugeen Peninsula Treaty, and Manitoulin Island Treaty First Nations, including and as well as the Alderville First Nation, Chippewas of Beausoleil First Nation, Chippewas of Georgian Island First Nation, Chippewas of Rama First Nation, Curve Lake First Nation, Hiawatha First Nation, Mississaugas of Scugog Island First Nation, Chippewas of Nawash First Nation, Saugeen First Nation, Wahta Mohawk First Nation, Moose Deer Point First Nation, Wasauksing First Nation, Shawanaga First Nation, Magnetawan First Nation, Henvey Inlet First Nation, Wikwemikong First Nation, Whitefish River First Nation, Sheguiandah First Nation, M’Chigeeng First Nation and Aundeck-Omni-Kaning First Nation, and acknowledges their historic connection and stewardship for the Georgian Bay region.
On September 20th, millions of people across the world attended or hosted local volunteer cleanup events in an effort to combat the growing pollution problem. This global initiative, known as World Cleanup Day, officially became a UN calendar day in 2023. The mission of World Cleanup Day is not only to clean up environmental pollution, but also to raise awareness about the pollution problem through community involvement and global action.
The Origins of World Cleanup Day
The global movement that is World Cleanup Day began as a national initiative in Estonia in 2008, started by the Let’s Do It Foundation. That year, volunteers collected over 9,000,000 kgs (9,000 tonnes) of trash across the country in five hours. This quickly inspired other countries to do the same. On September 15th, 2018, the first coordinated World Cleanup Day took place, with 18 million participants in 157 countries taking action locally to reduce pollution, including plastic pollution.
In 2020, The Let's Do It Foundation introduced a Digital Cleanup Day as a response to COVID-19 restrictions, which now takes place in March as a separate initiative. This initiative encouraged participants to take part in a digital declutter as a way of reducing energy use and CO2 emissions. Since 2020, over 14.5 million GB of data have been deleted by participants, preventing an estimated 3,288 tonnes of CO2 production.
World Cleanup day timeline with key dates. For more information visit https://www.worldcleanupday.org/
Both movements call for collective action from all of society, including citizens, businesses, and governments, to promote a unified goal in protecting the planet. While cleaning up pollution is the key goal of World Cleanup Day, community involvement and unity is at the heart of the movement.
Why Do We Need World Cleanup Day?
Plastic pollution is a growing problem that affects everyone. From degraded landscapes to microplastics in our water, it can have harmful implications for ecosystems and human health around the world. In aquatic environments, plastic can release toxic chemicals and break down into microplastics, which can be ingested and carried up the food chain. It is estimated that between 1.15 and 2.41 million tonnes of plastic are discarded into the oceans every year by countries with coastlines. Plastic pollution is also prevalent in freshwater ecosystems, with an estimated 10,000 tonnes entering the Great Lakes every year.
Local cleanups are a great way to contribute to the health of ecosystems and biodiversity, by preventing harmful pollutants from entering the environment and disrupting ecosystem function.
Pictures from GLPC volunteer events, including volunteers sorting through Seabin debris and some of the debris found.
Global initiatives like World Cleanup Day not only help clean up the environment, but also raise awareness and ensure that plastic pollution is not a forgotten problem. Global initiatives can drive policy change and the development of environmental regulations. For example, the Ozone protection campaign led to the creation of the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer in the 1980s. Global concern grew after scientists discovered a hole in the Ozone layer, and the result of these concerns was an environmental agreement that regulated chemicals referred to as ozone depleting substances that now includes all recognized nations. However, the success of environmental movements should not always be measured by policy change, as exposure, attention, and community involvement also play a role in driving broader change.
The Impact of World Cleanup Day
World Cleanup Day has become the biggest civic movement in human history, with 91 million volunteers across 211 countries and territories. In 2024 there was an estimated 165k tons of waste cleaned up, contributing to over 623k tons of waste collected since 2019. With the amount of pollution cleaned up annually by volunteers, World Cleanup Day has made a positive impact on ecosystems around the world, while also continuing to grow and gain more media attention since its start.Â
World Cleanup Day has also been the recipient of the UNESCO-Japan Education of Sustainable Development prize, as well as a finalist for the Energy Globe Award in 2019. The Lets Do It Foundation has expanded to develop other projects, such as the Sustainable Environmental Education Program (SEEP), which implements environmental knowledge into school curriculums and is currently utilized in Namibia and Tanzania.
Getting Involved With World Cleanup Day and the Great Lakes Plastic Cleanup
For World Cleanup Day in 2025, the Great Lakes Plastic Cleanup hosted cleanup events with our plastic capture technologies, including the Seabin and BeBot, engaging volunteers who helped us sort through debris collected from the water and along the shoreline. Much like World Cleanup Day, community involvement is at the heart of the Great Lakes Plastic Cleanup , and our volunteers and community members make all the difference in our efforts to combat plastic pollution in the Great Lakes. In addition to pollution removal, data collected, sorted and characterized at our events also allow us to understand the types of plastic entering our waterways and their potential sources. Understanding where pollutants come from is a key part of the solution to combat the pollution problem and promote the health of our waterbodies.
The Seabin acts as a floating trash bin for the water, collecting debris from the surface. The device uses a pump that allows the bin to dip under the water, and the filter collects waste from the top 10mm. On World Cleanup Day, we hosted events with our Seabin at Cobourg Marina and City of Barrie Marina, where we collected a total of 117 pieces of plastic waste from the water. Our most common find of the day was foam pieces, with a combined 52 pieces found.
City Of Barrie Marina Waste Characterization Event
Cobourg Marina Waste Characterization Event
Our BeBot is a beach-cleaning robot that travels along the shoreline and collects debris from the sand. The device is 100% electric and slowly sifts the sand without disturbing the local environment. On World Cleanup Day, the BeBot travelled along the beach at Long Point Provincial Park, collecting over 150 plastic pieces within 15 minutes. The most common type of debris collected was cigarette butts, with 39 pieces found.
Our BeBot collecting debris along Long Point Provincial Park and categorized debris
Global initiatives like World Cleanup Day help to combat the global pollution problem through community based action and spreading awareness, ensuring that as the project continues to grow the pollution problem can’t be ignored. At the Great Lakes Plastic Cleanup, we recognize the importance of World Cleanup Day while also noting that any local environmental cleanup or educational opportunity helps to make a difference. We encourage you to look out for local opportunities and participate in a cleanup wherever you can. For our upcoming volunteer events check out our Eventbrite page: https://www.eventbrite.ca/cc/great-lakes-plastic-cleanup-volunteer-events-1078049
Global initiatives, local cleanups and educational opportunities are all essential in combating the pollution problem, and we hope that you’ll join us in the fight for a greener future.
References
Energy Globe Award - About Us. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.energyglobe.info/about-us Â
Lets Do It Foundation. (n.d.). Digital Cleanup Day. Digital Cleanup Day. https://www.worldcleanupday.org/Â
Lets Do It Foundation. (n.d.). World Cleanup Day – join the Global Movement for a cleaner planet. World Cleanup Day. https://www.worldcleanupday.org/ Â
Pol, W., Stasińska, E., Żmijewska, A., Więcko, A., & Zieliński, P. (2023). Litter per liter – lakes' morphology and shoreline urbanization index as factors of microplastic pollution: Study of 30 lakes in NE poland. The Science of the Total Environment, 881, 163426.
Rebuilding the ozone layer: How the world came together for the Ultimate Repair Job. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/story/rebuilding-ozone-layer-how-world-came-together-ultimate-repair-jobÂ
SEEP. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.seep.education/Â Â
UN Environment Programme. (n.d.). About Montreal protocol. Retrieved from https://www.unep.org/ozonaction/who-we-are/about-montreal-protocol Â
Unesco. (1970). UNESCO-Japan Prize on education for sustainable development. Retrieved from https://www.unesco.org/en/prizes/education-sustainable-developmentÂ
Reegan is a recent graduate of the Environment & Sustainability program at the University of British Columbia, where she has studied physical geography, climate change and human relationships with the environment. She is passionate about climate justice and environmental awareness and enjoys meaningfully engaging with local communities about environmental issues.