World Cleanup Day Estonia (Maailmakoristuspäev Eestis) is Estonia’s local event and also organisation, which carries out the important role of gathering thousands of Estonians in a joint global civic mission by cleaning our forests, beaches, cities and homes. The World Cleanup Day movement started in Estonia in 2008 when 50 000 people came out to clean up Estonia from mismanaged waste.
Us, Estonians take pride in our beautiful and unique surroundings. With our campaigns we wish to emphasise the importance of individual responsibility and hence, education.
Since 2019, our focus has been on the younger generation. Each year hundreds of schools and kinder-gartens participate.
World Cleanup Day Estonia has proved its importance each year. From 10 000 participants in 2018 to over 40 000 participants in 2022 - the events in September have brought together school and kinder-garten kids, families, colleagues and individuals in a mutual effort to make our beautiful towns, beaches, parks and forests cleaner.
Since 2019, we have put our focus on small rubbish, mainly on little plastic and cigarette butts, which are considered to be the biggest environmental problem globally. In 2020, World Cleanup Day Estonia partnered with a local movement “The sea starts here” (“Meri algab siit”), which aimed to improve the health of our rivers, lakes and the Baltic Sea. That year, over 30 000 Estonians (including 25 000 students) managed to gather just over 1,6 million cigarette butts. Our participation put us in 4th place globally.
In 2022, we have put even more effort into the awareness around cigarette butts. With our patron, musician and film director Andres Kõpper (NOËP) we produced 3 unique clips titled “Sorry, you dropped something” showcasing the habit of cigarette butt littering. In addition, we developed a cigarette butt container and came out with a special container holder that can be used at festivals and events. And, with various events we continue with our aim to improve the health of the Baltic Sea.
Thanks to our school campaign patrons NOËP, nublu, Trad.Attack!, Ariadne, WATEVA, Pluuto and Kristel Aaslaid, and sponsors like the Environmental Investment Center, the British Council, NESTE, the German Embassy, Eventech, City of Tallinn, Estonian Basketball 100 and many others we have seen a gradual growth both in awareness and participation.
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