What is World Clean Up Day?

Every year immense amounts of pollution and waste enter our environment. Some of this waste (most of it) is the result of corporate and industrial processes. A significant amount of it, however, is consumer waste. The convenience of single-use products, overabundant packaging, and plastic serves to contribute to this abundant waste. World Clean Up Day is an opportunity to take a serious look at our day-to-day habits. With a bit of effort, we can significantly impact the amount of waste we produce each year. 

Join The Movement 

World Clean Up Day was created, in part, as an extension of Earth Day. Set six months apart, these holidays focus on improving our world by raising awareness and changing our habits. This helps us to renew our dedication to changing our wasteful habits and helping others change theirs. 

180 Countries participate in World Cleanup Day, with over 50 million volunteers around the world. You can join the World Cleanup Day movement on the 18th of September 2021 by checking out their website here to create cleanup events in your area, or join an existing group! It’s not just about the cleanups, but the strong community of people who share a vision of a waste-free world. 🌎

What Else Can I Do?

World Cleanup day is also an excellent opportunity to get into the great outdoors to remind ourselves what we can change. Even if you don’t participate in a community cleanup, you can be conscious of other little things within your daily lives that ultimately make a big difference. 

This World Clean Up Day, consider the following changes:

• Use Recyclable Products - One crucial step you can take is ensuring that the products you use include recyclable products. 
• Consider Going Reusable - Recycling is great, but what’s even better is reducing how much there is to recycle. Reusable cloth bags, glass jars, and other products can reduce how much waste there is going into the environment. Opt for using our Urban Tote as a shopping bag instead of single-use plastic.
• Avoid Microbeads - Microbeads were introduced into a broad range of cleaning and cosmetic products in recent years. Unfortunately, most of these microbeads are made of plastic which finds its way back into the environment. Check your products to find out if they contain microbeads. Some microbeads are finely ground organic substances, like avocado and peach pits. These are perfectly safe to use, as are those that use salt or sugar in place of microbeads.
• Bulk Shopping - This is another way to reduce the packaging waste that you create. Consider buying your products in bulk and using reusable containers at home to store them. This helps to eliminate a significant amount of waste from store to pantry.
• Composting - You can eliminate food waste to limit how much is going to our landfills. One reliable method of accomplishing this is to start composting. Even if you aren’t gardening, you can donate this to locate community garden products once it’s complete. This way, you’ll not only be reducing the waste entering the environment, but you’ll also be helping to grow locally sourced food!

Ready to get engaged with helping to protect the environment? Consider organizing a “Clean Up” event in your community! You can bring people together to collect garbage from streets, waterways, and public parks. Together we can work to eliminate waste from the environment. This effort will help protect wildlife, beautify natural spaces, and raise awareness about the importance of protecting the only home we all have.