Cleaning up

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A cleaning up is a remediation, often organized among friends, colleagues, neighbours or students who settle on cleaning a given public space.

[edit] Description

Human activities produce huge amounts of wastes that are bound to be dumped and let somewhere. All over our planet, and especially in industrialized countries, numerous communities are trying to set up clean ups to help preserve their local environment and raise awareness to the issue.

When you stumble on a paper, you'll find it gratifying to pick it up and put it where it belongs : the dustbin.

Several schools organize events in collaboration with the local authorities. This aims at educating our young and intice them to become responsible citizens. These young schoolmates will hopefully become green citizens but they also enjoy themselves during such events and get closer to nature. Launching such events is easy and fun!

This does not necessarily require a huge organization, it can be one only person collecting papers, a group of neighbours who clean up a local park, friends who live in the same street and want to be able to play in a clean space... There's always some good reason to organize or participate in a cleaning event. This will often take place in Spring, cleaning up events are organized and done by young people. Unfortunately, you'll rarely find adults, except for those who manage the groups.

[edit] In practice, types of events

Plenty of common wastes are carried away along our rivers.

[edit] Cleaning banks

Rivers and streams will flow across many towns. At springtime, schoolmates and their teachers organize a clean up with the local authorities to tidy the banks. In larger cities, divers may wish to take part.

Marine wastes have various origins; they can simply be produced from your own home, carried away along drains into lakes and rivers until they are flown to the sea. Other wastes come from the sea itself, though most of them come from the land. The wind also carries wastes to the sea (from landfills, beaches or boats).

These are our common daily garbage, plastic bags, wrappings of ready-to eat meals, cans, glass bottles, cigarette butts, helium balloons, fishing devices, rope and many other things! Many of these objects are made of recyclable raw material and could have been reused instead of being discarded.

Plenty of plastic things are to be found along our coasts. The thing is the very top property of this material (light, solid long-lived) makes it our worst ennemy as it will stay there for such a long time.

Organizing a clean up is easy, fun and gratifying!

The presence of marine wastes has many consequences. Animals can eat them or get trapped, they may be hurt or even die. Nets and fishing lines, rubber bands and plastic bags, ropes, polystyrene all represent serious hazards. Many species such as turtles, whales or dolphins are mistaken into taking plastic for food. When these materials are ingested they may block their guts, and the animals will die of hunger.

The economic side effects are more difficult to assess. Such garbage can harm fishing or leisure boats and occasion costly repairs. For fishermen, a waste of time is a waste of money. The tourism industry, namely eco-tourism, relies on clean beaches to attract people. Besides, the more garbage, the more expensive it is to keep a clean littoral.

[edit] Cleaning up streets

Our city streets are often strewn with people's rubbish ; the wind, people or animals can contribute in dissminating the contents of bins. Local authorities have been fighting this problem for some decades but it is for us to keep our streets, our gardens and whereabouts tidy.

Various organizations, ecocities for instance, set up street clean ups in collaboration between the township and voluntary participants. The aim is to maintain a clean healthy environment. Such community projects can redynamize local life through its goals :

Clean ups are often an occasion for parties. Here people are about to celebrate the corn crops!

Share a feeling one belongs to a place, an area.
Make people feel safe, as the inhabitants and the authorities collaborate.
Better quality of life while towns can seem a poor choice to raise children.
A stabilisation and a diminution of urban sanitary problems. In a clean and tidy environment, people will feel like getting to know one another and enjoy sharing the district.
Boost the town thanks to the plantation of trees and flowers.
Raise awareness about the importance of preserving one's enviroment and of respecting others.

[edit] Photo Gallery

Earth Day is an occasion for a clean up with Christ-Roi school.
At springtime, young people set up clean ups.
No need for much organization, a few neighbours can clean up the local park.
Such events feed a feeling of belonging to a community of green citizens in the area.