The « We will clean the planet from garbage », which subsequently received the status of a world, was first held in September 1993 by residents of Australia – they massively went out to clean ocean beaches. Gradually, other countries joined the rally, and today millions of volunteers from 100 countries around the world are already participating in it.
Residents of different continents specially set aside a week in September to arrange the collection and sorting of garbage in their hometown or go for environmental purposes to some other point on the planet. In many cities, educational events are held on the environmental and economic benefits of waste management. People cleanse holiday places, beaches, forest parks and water bodies, suburban areas and rivers from garbage, hold « Waste no passage », « Park instead of landfills », « Attack on plastic », plant trees, organize exhibitions, concerts and press conferences.
The relevance of the « We will clean the planet from garbage » has increased especially in recent years. Every year, humanity is becoming more and more « a consumer society ». On average, about 20 tons of raw materials are spent per year for each inhabitant of the Earth, most of which ( up to 97% ) goes to waste, which gives rise to mountains of garbage already nicknamed « monsters of the 21st century ». They scare not only their scale, but also the potential danger that live organisms pose to the health and life of living organisms, as they lead to groundwater pollution and the spread of harmful gases.
The goal of the worldwide action « We will clean the planet from garbage » – to draw people's attention to the problems of environmental pollution and littering the planet, as well as develop their skills in economic relations with the world around them and increase the level of environmental culture and literacy.
« Humanity will not die in an atomic nightmare, it will suffocate in its own waste », – said once the famous physicist Niels Bor. By organizing this and other similar environmental worldwide actions, environmentalists are struggling to make Bor's words not prophetic…