This year, 73,556 children and young people across the country have swapped selling toilet paper rolls and bamboo socks for gloves, rubbish sacks and true community spirit. Through The Community Plastics cleanup, teams and organisations have had the opportunity to finance their leisure activities by cleaning up nature in their local area – rather than selling items that all too often remain unused. Nationwide, 1,974 community clean-ups have resulted in as many as 95,018 sacks of litter being removed from nature.
See where cleaning took place near you, and who carried it out, inThe map.
“The Community Plastics cleanup has been a welcome initiative for thousands of families. Children can finance their own activities without putting a strain on the family finances – and at the same time, nature becomes cleaner. It is a win-win situation. The fact that almost all the SpareBank 1 foundations have joined us this year has meant that even more children have been able to choose cleanup work instead of sales,” says Cecilie Lind, CEO of The Norwegian Retailers' Environment Fund.
A joint effort for the local environment
In The Community Plastics cleanup, each team receives NOK 500 per child who takes part and cleans for three hours. The funding comes from the plastic bag fees managed by The Norwegian Retailers' Environment Fund, in addition to contributions from local SpareBank 1 foundations. This makes it possible for children and young people to fund their leisure activities without sales-based community work – regardless of their family’s finances.
This is the fourth time that The Norwegian Retailers' Environment Fund has opened for applications to The Community Plastics cleanup, and the second time SpareBank 1 foundations have contributed to the cleanup fund. This year, as many as 18 SpareBank 1 foundations have joined the effort.
A more sustainable dugnad choice
In developing The Community Plastics cleanup, The Norwegian Retailers' Environment Fund has had a clear objective: to reduce the need for the production, transport and sale of community work items that are not always necessary. This benefits the environment, while also sparing families an additional expense.
At the same time, Lind emphasises that the community effort is about far more than money.
“When children clean up in their own local environment, they see with their own eyes that litter does not disappear by itself. That experience leaves a lasting impression. They discover that they can make a difference, and for many it gives them a completely unique sense of achievement,” she says.
