About Clean Up the World Weekend

In 2006, Clean Up the World Weekend was held on 15-17 September.  

Clean Up the World Weekend, celebrated globally on the 3rd weekend in September is the Campaign's flagship event.

Clean Up the World encourages Members to organise a Clean Up event on, or around, Clean Up the World Weekend and to think of ways to engage the community in long-term environmental initiatives. The needs of each community are different and Members' campaign activities  vary considerably.

The Clean Up the World Weekend was a resounding success thanks to the enthusiastic support and efforts of our partners and Members.

A complete summary of Member activities will be provided in the end of year Activity Report available at the end of this calendar year. In the interim, here are some highlights.

AFRICA

SEYCHELLES
SWAC - Solid Waste and Cleaning Section

The Australian High Commissioner and the Minister for Environment and Natural Resources attended the Seychelles annual Clean Up campaign which took place on 15 September with the theme "Committed towards a cleaner Seychelles - Have you bin doing your bit?". The 2006 campaign focused on controlling mosquitoes and the Chikungunyah virus by removing rubbish and ensuring it was disposed of correctly. The events were well covered by media and included a radio quiz on AM and FM radio stations. As in previous years, car registration stickers for the month of September featured clean up messages that will serve as a reminder to drivers of their responsibility to keep the environment litter free year round. Nearly two thousand volunteers participated including school children, police, defence force staff and private businesses.

SOUTH AFRICA
Duzi Umngeni Conservation Trust (DUCT)

Witness Msunduzi River Clean Up Day was held on CUW Weekend with 87 groups and 1914 volunteers removing 4067 bags of rubbish from Msunduzi River and its tributaries. The day was organised by Duzi Umngeni Conservation Trust (DUCT) a newly formed non profit organisation that champions the environmental health of the Msunduzi and Mngeni Rivers, which flow through KwaZulu-Natal's two main urban centres, Durban and Pietermaritzburg.

ASIA PACIFIC

MALDIVES
Komandoo Prodivers

On 16 September Clean Up the World activities took place on the island resort of Komandoo in the Maldives.  Prodivers and Komandoo resort staff organized a very successful event with around forty guests and ten staff helping with rubbish removal.  Divers, snorkelers and beach walkers collected between 400-500kgs of rubbish consisting mainly of tins, plastic bags, bottles and nylon fishing lines and ropes.

INDIA
Center for Environmental Studies

The Center for Environmental Studies runs teaching, research and extension activities related to the environment. 180 students and faculty members from the Centre spent a day at Vaigai River in Madurai taking water samples, water wuality was then tested to monitor effects of pollution in the area,.and students taking part collected any rubbish they found.

PAPUA NEW GUINEA
Australian High Commission, Papua New Guinea

700 volunteers, including staff from the National Capital District Commission (NCDC), the Australian High Commission, the Australian Defence Staff and members of the general public participated in the Clean Up of Ela Beach in Port Moresby A brass band from the PNG Correctional Services opened the event by marching from downtown to nearby Ela Beach. Speeches were made by His Excellency the Governor General, Sir Paulius Matane; NCDC Chairman, Hon Wari Vele MBE MP and the Australian High Commissioner to PNG, His Excellency Mr Michael Potts. The Clean Up followed the speeches.

EUROPE

FRANCE
Cap Marseille

In spite of difficult weather conditions, many volunteers met for the Cap Marseille coastal cleaning activity in the south of Marseille, between the Madrague of Montredon and the Saména Creek. By midday, forty bags of waste had been filled with glass and plastic bottles and other packaging. Volunteers were pleased with the clean landscape post Clean Up. The Itinerant Mediterranean School of the Environment of Cap Marseille helped organise the e-cooperation event  "Clean Old Port" in the traditional fishing area of Marseille in the Boud'mer sea. Families and individuals used scoops and gloves to fill 15 bags with waste. Most of the waste was recovered from the outer area of the port near the dam. Plastics, bottles, cotton stems, condoms and syringes were found.

SERBIA AND MONTENEGRO
Environmental Ambassadors

Environmental Ambassadors held a Clean Up in Cacak in partnership with food and hotel management schools. School gardens and the surroundings of apartment blocks were cleaned by the group and two local TV stations covered the event.

 

 

LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN

ARGENTINA
Fundacion Patagonia Natural

Fundacion Patagonia Natural joined with volunteers, and tourism and conservation administrators to clean up nine beaches within the protected El Doradillo area on the Chubut coastline. The area is popular with Franca Austral whales that reproduce there each year. 100 volunteers from the community, schools and organisations collected 120 cubic metres of rubbish. They were thrilled with the event's results and plan to repeat the activity.

MEXICO
Pro Defensa del Nazas AC

The CUW weekend campaign was held in the Cañón de Fernández State Park in the Natural Reserve located in the Chihuahuense Desert. Volunteers from Scout groups and schools cleaned up the Nazas River which runs through this location. Prior to the Clean Up, volunteers learned about the separation of waste and its impact on the environment. The group camped responsibly and began the Clean Up on Sunday. The weekend's activities estrablished a recycling program for the communities that will continue long after the weekend has ended.

WEST ASIA

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
Environment Agency - Abu Dhabi

Clean Up the Marina was held at Mina Port on September 22 with an estimated 200 volunteers, including students and fisherman collecting waste from the shore. The event was covered by local radio and tv stations and was attended by the Australian and Japanese Ambassadors.

PALESTINE
Municipality of Abasan Al-Kabira

"Toward a Clean and Green Abasan Al-kabira " was held on September 15 as part of Clean Up the World's Clean Up the Mediterranean program.  Hundreds of volunteers took part removing waste from the streets of Abasan Al-Kabira.