National CleanUp Day Is Coming Up — Here's How to Help Clean Up the Planet
Published Sept. 9 2022, 2:03 p.m. ET
Every fall, people around the globe observe World Cleanup Day, known as National CleanUp Day in the U.S., and pledge to spend a few hours picking up trash in their community, whether on their own or as part of an event.
There are so many ways to get involved in National CleanUp Day 2022 — here’s everything you need to know!
When are National CleanUp Day and World Cleanup Day 2022?
This year, World Cleanup Day and National CleanUp Day fall on Saturday, Sept. 17, 2022.
National CleanUp Day is described as an annual nationwide volunteer event that draws thousands of participants, all of whom volunteer to clean up their communities, most commonly by picking up litter. The holiday was started by hiking partners Steve Jewett and Bill Willoughby, and now, the holiday is organized by the nonprofit Clean Trails.
This year, National CleanUp Day is being presented in partnership with earthday.org, Keep America Beautiful, and Let’s Do It World, the international organization that is behind World Cleanup Day.
World Cleanup Day brings together millions of people across 191 countries to clean up litter. The holiday began in 2008 in Estonia, when 50,000 people volunteered to clean up the entire northern European country — in only five hours.
In the past four years, since 2018, World Cleanup Day claims to have gotten more than 60 million volunteers involved.
How to participate in National CleanUp Day 2022:
If you are based in the U.S. and would like to get involved, you can use National CleanUp Day’s official website to search for a cleanup near you.
Outdoor apparel brand Keep Nature Wild, which picks up a pound of trash for every product sold, is partnering with National CleanUp Day this year. In honor of the holiday, Keep Nature Wild has a goal of hosting 50 cleanups this month, with one in each U.S. state.
“This is our biggest one-day effort to date and we couldn’t be more excited to see the positive impact we are going to make for nature alongside National CleanUp Day,” Keep Nature Wild’s Community Manager, Bri Sullivan, said in a statement shared with Green Matters.
If you can’t find a cleanup in your area, consider organizing one on your own! You can organize either a private cleanup (where you just invite family and friends), or a public cleanup (which National CleanUp Day will publicly list on its website). After you pick a time and place, make sure to submit your cleanup to the site, whether private or public.
National CleanUp Day’s website has a guide composed of eight tips for helping your cleanup run smoothly. The organization also offers organizers free access to Otter Waiver so all their participants can sign waivers.
At the end of the day, make sure to upload photos of your cleanup to the website, whether you were a participant or an organizer.
How to get involved with World Cleanup Day 2022:
Similar rules apply to those who are based outside of the U.S. — on the World Cleanup Day website, just search for your country, and look through cleanup events that have already been scheduled for Sept. 17. If you can’t find one, consider planning your own and submitting it to be listed on the official site.
Happy cleaning!
