40,000 tidies up during the Beach Cleaning Week in Norway
Volunteers tidy up beaches, islands, islets, rivers, lakes and seabed in Norway’s largest national voluntary effort: the Beach Cleaning Week 2019 (Strandryddeuka).
During the last seven days, 1350 clearing actions were arranged all over Norway.
During the Beach Cleaning Week, an estimated 40,000 volunteers have so far registered 46 tonnes of waste by 1,350 separate actions. The actions take place on beaches, islands and islets, along waterways and lakes and even on the seabed.
Unlike in previous years, the Beach Cleaning Week is this year divided into six different theme days, including Schools and Kindergarten Day, Diving and Wade Day and Small Plastics Day.
“We have a lot [of people] to thank! First and foremost, we want to praise the volunteers who are out and about cleaning in all kinds of weather. The voluntary effort had also been impossible without renovation and waste management companies all over Norway. These are working flat out and open their doors for free submission of waste,” ‘Cleaning General’ of Norway, Fanny Pindsle, exclaims.
Clearing actions from north to south
This year, Hold Norge Rent (Keep Norway Clean) has two opening events, in Geiranger and Harpefoss respectively. This is to talk about both land-based and marine littering.
“The very first Keep Norway Clean action took place 50 years ago in Oppland, and it was, therefore, imperative to mark the beginning of the Beach Cleaning Week there,” the area responsible for land-based litter, Mari Mo Osterheider, explains.
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Beach Cleaning Week Top 10
After going through registered finds in the Clearing Portal (Ryddeportalen), this is the top 10 list from the Beach Cleaning Week 2019:
|
# |
Category |
Items |
|
1 |
Small ropes (Fishing nets) |
5,783 |
|
2 |
EPS (isopor) |
5,303 |
|
3 |
Cigarette butts |
5,019 |
|
4 |
Bottle caps and lids |
3,167 |
|
5 |
Plastic bags (all sorts) |
2,960 |
|
6 |
Drinking bottles and cans |
2,535 |
|
7 |
Cotton swabs (Q-tips) |
2,015 |
|
8 |
Packing ribbons and strips |
1,786 |
|
9 |
Food packaging/takeaway containers |
1,453 |
|
10 |
Agricultural plastic |
1,315 |
Sources: Findings from the Clearing portal, Keep Norway Clean 2019
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