WHY IT MATTERS

Most plastic that reaches the ocean starts its journey on land. A bottle on the sidewalk. A plastic bag near an overfilled bin. An empty wrapper that falls out of a pocket.

Before it becomes ocean plastic, it passes through places we see every day, it falls through cracks in our systems and finds its way into our waterways.

This World Cleanup Day, let’s raise awareness of where the journey begins for a lot of the catch we find in rivers. You can do this by finding 5 pieces of plastic near you and share a picture with us.

HOW IT WORKS

1. Go outside

Take a short walk in your neighborhood, local park, beach, riverbank, or any public space.

2. Find 5 pieces of plastic

Pick up five pieces of plastic litter.

3. Take a photo

Lay them out and photograph them

4. Send it in

Upload your photo using the form below.

5. Dispose of them responsibly

Then stay tuned for the video after World Cleanup Day.

"I didn’t even have a bag with me. I found one and completely filled it on a short walk." Cedar Point, North Carolina - Ed Williams
I am a plogger. Swedish for picking up rubish while running. I run a 5k five times a week. I pick up trash that I see in my route every day and I never pickup less than 5 items per day, many days it’s a bagful! I find plastic, cans, money, clothing, it shocks me what people will just toss out the car window or while they are walking. It saddens me because Lakewood CO is a beautiful midsized city to live in and we should all take care of it. I also pickup trash daily in memory of Kevin Mahoney, Boulder King Soopers grocery store shooting victim March 2021. His family said the best way to honor his life is to go on a hike and pick up trash along the way. Lakewood CO, United States - Karen
"We have a Restaurant at the beach, at Costa da Caparica in Portugal, and we are always amazing on how much rubbish come from the ocean to our door step. Every year we organize a community beach clean together with our team." Costa da Caparica, Portugal - Filipe
"Just how much plastic waster was in my line of walking. I didn't have to deviate more than one metre either side of my walk to pick this up." Perth, Western Australia - Simon F. Judge
"There is a very common plastic (small, always empty ) that arrives on our beach . AI is telling me they are water pouches sold at street vendors in Haiti (900 km from here)" Bahamas, Palm Cay , Nassau - Carlos D’Alessandro
"What surprised me? How big some of those pieces are and we usually walk right by them. These came out of Lake ONTARIO in Port Dalhousie. Across the lake iifnit wasn’t hazy you’d see Toronto. To the right a few kms there are Niagara Falls. Lake Ontario flows into the ocean through the St Laurence River. You can see an ocean going ship in the background. ✌️" Port Dalhousie, Canada - Hans
"the recurrence of items: almost always the same trash every week" Etoy, Switzerland - Antoine
"How normalized throwing trash is, even in beautiful places." Nandi Hills, Bengaluru, India - Nirmal Kumar
"It's soooo easy to find trash and I could choose, what I take. It costs me 2min to collect it here in Berlin (outside the center) where trees and greens are inbetween the streets an houses." Berlin, Germany - Mettemarit
"This was only in my front yard. As I continued to walk I spotted more and more rubbish. It is sad but I think this is a great way to spread awareness." Melbourne, Australia - Milla Daly
"Our dog always picks up a ton of litter on our walks, which we then toss into one of the many public trash cans around the city. And we’re constantly amazed by just how much trash there is on the streets in a supposedly clean city like Munich." Munich, Germany - JD
5 pieces collected close to our HQ in Rotterdam, the Netherlands

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