Let’s Clean Up the World In late September, after a full few weeks of global
environmental summits and protests, the annual
Clean Up the World campaign returned to Gibraltar
for a successful 15th consecutive year.
The environment is currently at the forefront of
news headlines around the globe. We regularly hear
about how much rubbish we produce, where it ends
up and the awful implications it has on ecosystems.
When faced with so much information and sta-
tistics, it is so easy to become somewhat apathetic
or daunted by it all. But the reality is that billions of
people around the world use vast amounts of dispo-
sable items every year. It all has to end up somewhe-
re, and the world is rapidly running out of space to
put it all, with a lot of it ending up on our streets,
beaches and green areas.
So each year, thousands of volunteers from around
the world come together for Clean Up the World, a
day where communities take action to combat waste
and plastic pollution in their local areas.
The campaign was established in 1993 and offers
support and guidance to groups, businesses and
schools, together with local governments to actively
engage in local clean up and environmental activi-
ties.
Since they started, Clean Up the World has enga-
ged an estimated 35 million volunteers across 133
countries, making it one of the largest communi-
ty-based environmental campaigns in the world.
Their vision is to inspire a billion people across
all continents to tread lightly, clean up and conserve
the planet.
Organised locally by the Environmental Safety
Group, Gibraltar has been actively involved with
Clean Up the World for the last 15 years. This year
was no exception, with a fantastic turnout of over
400 volunteers who helped clean up various loca-
tions across Gibraltar.
OTWO magazine also took part, with three of us
making our way up to Lathbury Barracks on the mor-
ning of the 27th September with litter pickers and
waste disposal bags at the ready.
When we first arrived, the amount of litter in the
area wasn’t immediately apparent. But not long after
we had scrambled further up onto the dirt slopes and
started combing through the thick plant growth, we
quickly realised that it was everywhere.
40 OTWO 04 / NOVEMBER 2019
Sarah Birch:Text / Demi Perera:Photographs
OTWO 04 / NOVEMBER 2019
Cans, bottles, crisp packets, dried up wet wipes,
polystyrene, plastic bags embedded into the dirt, the
more we looked, the more we found.
But even though the endless amount of litter bu-
ried beneath the soil and caught deep within dense
foliage seemed insurmountable, we still managed to
fill several generously sized bags with small to me-
dium pieces of rubbish, mostly made up of plastic.
Throughout the day, 400 volunteers of all diffe-
rent ages, spread across 26 teams cleaned up green
areas, cliff sites and seafronts and underwater spa-
ces such as around Rosia Bay.
Specialist teams also helped to tackle sites that
are only accessible by boat or by abseiling or diving.
By the end of the day, around 12 truck trips were
required to remove the piles of rubbish, not including
larger items that remained to be collected.
The Environmental Safety Group and Clean Up
the World, hope that cleanups such as these raise
awareness of how much waste we produce and its
environmental impact, and also inspire local commu-
nities to get involved.
And awareness is growing. The impact of global
waste, particularly plastic, is increasingly becoming
part of the collective consciousness. However, so
much more has to change to ensure that the rate at
which we consume, and then dispose of single-use
products, does not keep rising.
As mentioned above, the figures are truly
overwhelming. Based on estimates, the world’s ci-
ties generate 1.3 billion tonnes of waste annually.
With the current urbanisation and population growth
rate, that number is estimated to rise to 2.2 billion
tonnes by 2025.
The world is still plastic dependent and its ex-
tremely hard to avoid. But with more information
about the impact that it has on marine life, ecosys-
tems and even the part it plays in climate change,
is pushing more and more businesses and indivi-
duals to reduce the amount of waste they produce
and use.
Initiatives like Clean Up the World are unfortu-
nately very much needed at the moment. That be-
ing said, it was great to see so many people willing
to sacrifice some of their spare time to give back to
the community and help make the world we live in
that bit better.
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