World Cleanup Day
Next: September 20, 2027
Millions of people, one day, a lot of bin bags.
The story
Where it comes from
World Cleanup Day grew out of a single-day cleanup of Estonia in 2008, when about 50,000 volunteers, four per cent of the country, collected 10,000 tonnes of rubbish. The organisers, Let's Do It World, took the idea global in 2018. In December 2023 the UN General Assembly recognised 20 September as World Cleanup Day, making it an official UN observance from 2024.
How it's celebrated
Volunteers in more than 190 countries clean beaches, rivers, parks and streets on the same day, coordinated by local teams and logged in an app. Companies, schools and scout groups make up much of the turnout. In Malaysia and Indonesia, coastal cleanups dominate.
Did you know
- In 2023 more than 19 million people took part in World Cleanup Day.
- Cigarette butts are consistently the most collected item in beach cleanups worldwide.
- The original Estonian cleanup mapped the rubbish first using volunteer photographs and GPS, an approach later copied by dozens of countries.
Coming up next
- International Day of Peace · September 21, 2027
- World Alzheimer's Day · September 21, 2027
- World Rhino Day · September 22, 2027
- World Car-Free Day · September 22, 2027
- International Day of Sign Languages · September 23, 2027
- World Gorilla Day · September 24, 2027