Civic led movement Lets Do It! World has united 39 countries and around one million volunteers within the last five months to get rid of illegal trash on land as well as from the sea.
2014 has so far been a success for the Lets Do It! movement, with 39 countries all over the world organising cleanup events and community activitiesthis year.Also an unique environmental campaign called Lets Do It, Mediterranean! took place on 10-11thof May, uniting 15 countries surrounding the Mediterranean Sea to take responsibility for its state by cleaning the beaches and the shallow seabed of illegal waste.
The Mediterranean region is one of the most touristic regions in the world, connecting three continents with different social, economic and cultural backgrounds. Such a massive voluntary cleanup action for the Mediterranean is unique. There have been separate cleanup actionsbefore, but action on this scale is unprecedented. We need to work together for the environment we all share this is why I am happy that we managed to bring together so many different cultures and 15 countries to clean up the sea shore and sea bottom during one weekend, said Faisal Sadegh, the coordinator of Lets Do It, Mediterranean! action.
Sadegh sheds light on the future plans of the Mediterranean cleanup: Volunteers within this campaign will be organising annual international cleanups until the year 2018. The aim for next year is to gather one million volunteers by introducing the movement to citizens of all the Mediterranean countries. By engaging people, we wish to tackle the problems of trash and pollution whilst furthering the sense of responsibility for our common sea, said Sadegh.
Aworldwide grassroots movement Lets Do It! World aims to engage 5% of the population of the world by the year 2018 to participate in cleanup actions in order to move towards a waste-free, healthy and sustainable future. The key to success lies in joining forces, Kadi Kenk from the Lets Do It! World core team suggests:Lets Do It! World Cleanup 2014 could be characterised as the successful beginning of a more independent and better structured movement. It is a true pleasure to see more and more activists realising the magic that acting jointly can bring about. Sharing success stories as well as concerns will in no doubt result in empowerment and generating joint results.
The Lets Do It!movement started in Estonia in 2008, when 50,000 people came together to clean up the whole country. Under normal circumstances it would have taken the government three years and 22,500,000 Euros to clean up the same amount of illegal garbage, but it was done for 500,000 euros and in only five hours. By now, the network unites 111 countries and almost 10 million volunteers. Lets Do It! World is an accredited organisation atUnited Nations Environment Programme(UNEP).
The countries participating in Lets Do It! actions can be seen here:www.letsdoitworld.org/countriesand upcomingcleanup dates can be seen here:www.letsdoitworld.org/cleanup_dates_2014.
The Lets Do It! Mediterranean action is supported by the Anna Lindh Foundation. The Lets Do It! movement is supportedbytheEstonian Ministry of Foreign Affairsfrom theDevelopment Cooperation and Humanitarian Aid fund, theOpen Estonia Foundation, Skype, Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group, QlikView, Tallink Group, DHL Estonia, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Estonian Air, Meedius Estonia, Sendsmaily and EuroPark Estonia.
More information about the Lets Do It! global movement:
Meelika Hirmo
Lets Do It! World Cleanup 2014
Head of Public Relations & Communication
Tel: +372 5041258
E-mail:meelika [at] letsdoitworld [dot] orgHome page:www.letsdoitworld.org
Facebook:www.facebook.com/letsoitworld
Twitter:www.twitter.com/letsdoitworld
Youtube:www.youtube.com/letsdoitworld