NATIONAL CLEANUP DAY
About this good practice
In 2008 the Cleanup Day started as a joint effort to deal with the challenge of illegally disposed waste all over Latvia. The idea came from Estonia, who organised their first nationwide clean-up on 3 May 2008. In 2008, all three Baltic States invited people to give a gift to Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia on their 90th anniversaries by cleaning up their land.
Gradually the concept of the cleanup was broadened - in addition to the physical collection and disposal of the illegal waste, education and informative activities as well as landscaping and improvement activities have been implemented (tree planting, flower planting, bird feeding places, park benches etc.).
To prepare for the cleanup, everyone can report polluted sites on the Cleanup Day website www.talkas.lv - it is a useful tool for planning clean-up activities. One month before the clean-up day every potential participant can register their chosen clean-up site on the clean-up map.
The national coordinator of the movement is the civic association “Pēdas LV”. It is based on vast involvement of society - local governments, ministries, state institutions and companies, schools, private businesses, mass media, diaspora abroad etc. Over the past 15 years, the Clean-up Day in Latvia has involved around 500 000 participants, also Latvians in other countries.
Like all local governments, also Ķekava Municipality is a regular and active participant of the Cleanup Day.
Resources needed
Human resources for organization - association “Pedas.LV”, local governments, national media, cooperation partners
Garbage collection bags (sponsored by supporters)
Transportation and disposal of collected waste – financed by local governments (Ķekava municipality - ca 5000-10000 EUR annually)
Evidence of success
• The annual amount of collected garbage nationally has decreased by more than half compared to 2008 - i.e. the amount of illegal waste has decreased in the result of cleanup activities;
• The collected and disposed waste in territory of Ķekava Municipality: in 2023 - 11,27 t, in 2024 - 6,7 t
• Steady public support and willingness of citizens to participate every year
Potential for learning or transfer
The first nationwide clean-ups and the overwhelming public support for the idea in the Baltic States in 2008 has already become truly global initiative. It launched “Let`s Do it world! - an international movement coordinated by Estonian NGOs, which organised the first World Cleanup Day on 15 September 2018 with 18 million participants from 158 countries.
Since 2018, World Cleanup Day has become the biggest civic movement in human history, uniting 211 countries and territories – which includes 95% of UN-listed countries – across the world, and 91 million volunteers, equal to 1.1% of global population – all striving to create a cleaner planet.
Further information
Good practice owner
You can contact the good practice owner below for more detailed information.