Sydney,
Australia, 13 september 2006 – What do the Nile
River, Copacabana Beach and Sydney Harbour have
in common? All three will be among the many sites
of community-led environmental clean ups taking
place next weekend as part of the global Clean
Up the World campaign.
Over 600 members, mobilising
over 35 million volunteers from 122 countries,
will participate in this year's Clean Up the World
Weekend, celebrated globally on 15-17 September.
The campaign, held in conjunction
with the United Nations Environment Programme
(UNEP), has grown steadily since the inaugural
event in 1993. Activities range from cleaning
up small villages to overhauling entire countries.
Across many regions communities also implement
recycling and educational programmes, as well
as water and energy conservation projects.
Since the start of the campaign,
Clean Up the World members worldwide have collected
an estimated 3,574,991 tonnes of rubbish – enough
to fill 5,710 Olympic size swimming pools. Plastic,
glass, metal and cigarette butts are among the
most commonly found rubbish items every year.
“From the world’s iconic sites
to the sites of significance to remote local communities,
Clean Up the World campaign brings people together
in a meaningful activity that changes their lives
and environment for the better,” said the campaign’s
Chairman and Founder Ian Kiernan, Recipient of
the Order of Australia.
“Clean Up the World mobilizes
people around a powerful idea – taking the challenge
of environment and sustainable development to
our front doors, our backyards, and everywhere
else around the globe. It comes with another idea
that UNEP strongly believes in: that what we consider
waste and rubbish today could become a resource
for tomorrow,” said UNEP Executive Director Achim
Steiner.
Volunteers from fourteen countries
across the Mediterranean Sea will engage in a
wide range of activities going from underwater
clean ups to environmental parades in a joint
effort to promote greener living in this iconic
region.
In Egypt, the Arab Office for
Youth and the Environment is focusing on the Clean
Up the Nile initiative with participation of 17
cities, which seeks to highlight the River’s importance
for agriculture and development in this desertification-prone
region.
School children, divers, snorkellers
and community volunteers will be cleaning up the
world-famous Copacabana beach in Rio de Janeiro,
Brazil. This clean up event is coordinated by
Brazil’s popular TV show “Programa Na Praia” (“On
the Beach”), which raises environmental awareness
across the country.
On the island of Newfoundland,
off Canada’s Atlantic coast, Ocean Net volunteers
will celebrate the 1000th marine clean up conducted
since the group’s establishment in 1997 with underwater
and beach clean ups at Topsail Beach.
In China’s City of Shaoxing,
situated in the Yangtze River delta, about 100
cycling enthusiasts will collect roadside rubbish
during a bike ride on the Clean Up the World weekend,
targeting in particular plastic bags and drink
containers.
In Australia, where the Clean
Up the World campaign started fourteen years ago,
volunteers will remove rubbish from the Sydney
Harbour and Lane Cove National Park. Dozens more
Australian volunteers will work with overseas
communities as far as Ghana, the Philippines and
the Kingdom of Tonga to help improve local environment
and livelihoods, promoting this Australian campaign
across the world.
“Many communities across the
globe have faced uncertainty over the past year.
Clean Up the World is an opportunity to break
down geographical and political barriers by working
together to look after our shared environment.
I encourage more groups to join us in creating
greener cities and communities across the world,”
concluded Ian Kiernan.
Clean Up the World is a campaign
held in conjunction with our Primary Partner UNEP.
Patron – Veolia Environnement. Global Media Partner
– National Geographic Channels International.
Sponsors – Brambles and Qantas. Supporter – The
Australian Government through the Department of
Foreign Affairs and Trade.
NOTES TO THE EDITORS
Of 624 Clean Up the World members
in 2006, 207 come from Africa; 171 from Asia Pacific;
82 from Europe; 138 from Latin America and the
Caribbean; 11 from North America; and 16 from
West Asia.
Countries with the highest participation this
year are India, Nigeria, Argentina and Kenya.
Countries participating in the Clean Up the World
campaign for the first time in 2006 are Afghanistan,
Albania, Guyana and Latvia.
About Clean Up the World
The Clean Up campaign started
in 1989 when an Australian solo-yachtsman and
builder Ian Kiernan, appalled by the amount of
rubbish he came across while sailing, organized
a clean up of the Sydney Harbour, during which
some 40,000 volunteers removed rusted car bodies,
plastics, glass bottles and cigarette butts from
the water.
The campaign went global in
1993, with Sydney becoming Clean Up the World’s
headquarters. Today it brings together hundreds
of members from around the world ranging from
local community groups to national campaigns that
carry out environmental projects throughout the
year. The Clean Up the World Weekend held in September
each year has the highest participation of all.
For more information, visit www.cleanuptheworld.org.
