Citizens and Volunteers of Curaçao, Let's Do It!
About Let's Do It, World
Just like Curaçao, a group of citizens in Estonia started a cleanup event, called ‘Let’s Do It’. In 2008 around 50.000 volunteers gathered and cleaned up their entire country in five hours.
It was the start of a bottom-up civic movement and spread like wildfire around the globe. This inspired people worldwide to follow the same ambitious ‘one country, one-day’ formula.
Over 15 years later, the simple idea has grown into a global movement with millions of volunteers and charismatic leaders. The simple act of cleaning has become a force that unites together people and groups that would otherwise never work towards the same goal.
Civil society, governments, global corporations, women in Saudi Arabia, people defying war in Yemen and Syria, Muslims, Jews, Hindus and Christians, men and women, children have all joined in.
Lets Do It World
Nearly every human on this planet has a place they call a Home. Be it a mansion, a street, a hut or a flat in a metropolis. Then there are the cities, countries, and regions we call home. And the planet we call home. When 50,000 Estonians cleaned their home in 5 hours, the world took notice. The simplicity of the idea and the ‘let’s do it’ attitude took off and the rest, as they say, is history. Anyone can pick up trash. In 2018, a 101-year old man volunteered to clean in Curaçao.
In Estonia, a group of mothers carrying their babies went out to clean. In Scotland, a dogs association came out with the dogs. But World Cleanup Day has become so much more than the simple act of picking up trash. Daycares, schools, companies, government officials – the old, the young, the rich, the poor, the able and less able – everyone contributed. Because they could. Because they wanted to be involved in making their home a better place. Because they were given an opportunity to help. Because they belong to a community.
Let’s Do It World (LDIW) is a global organization that unites more than 190 countries. World Cleanup Day is the biggest event organized by LDIW. Each country has a leader or a group of leaders, who work day and night, often as volunteers, to mobilize the people in their countries for World Cleanup Day. Leaders come from all walks of life – strong women defying societal boundaries, environmentalists fighting for a better tomorrow, organizations uniting concerned citizens. Each country is affected by the mismanaged waste in different ways.
In some, waste is an issue managed by the government; in some, waste is something that the majority of the population is surrounded by; in others, waste and recycling provides thousands of jobs; in some, mismanaged waste is not such a huge issue and in some countries, mismanaged waste is a matter of life and death. Each country addresses the issues surrounding waste that are most pressing for them. LDIW provides guidance, advice and leadership skills for anyone willing to commit time to the cause. The incredible people leading these 191 countries are nothing short of being heroes of our time.
There isn’t one. The sad reality is that the human race needed David Attenborough, Greta Thunberg, images of birds strangled by plastic and sea life filled with cotton swabs, to wake up to what’s surrounding us. The millions united by LDIW are a fraction of the world that care enough to take action. A simple action of picking up trash. These people care for the future. They can look beyond differences and work for keeping what unites us – our common home.
This is not a dressing down, nor is it finger-pointing or prophesying a doomsday. It is about positive collaboration, the spirit of unity and most importantly, getting something done for the planet and the realization that we need planet Earth with its resources more than it needs us.
In summaryLet's Do It World
Let’s Do It World has never been purely about cleaning up trash. Our vision is a clean and healthy waste free planet. We tackle the environmental challenges related to the mismanaged solid waste crisis by mobilizing millions of positive-minded people into coordinated local and global actions. We see waste as simply a mismanaged resource.
Through our activities and campaigns, we aim to create a shift towards better management of resources and inspire towards smarter choices in design, production, and consumption. We also work to raise global awareness and implement lasting changes to end the global waste epidemic, once and for all. Let’s Do It World relies on five key principles:
01. Cooperation
We are open to individuals and organizations from the public sector, corporations and civil society who believe that waste does not belong in nature. “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.”
02. Positivity
We look for solutions, instead of pointing fingers. We focus on creating positive change and on finding solutions to “trash blindness”.
03. Leadership
Changes happen in people and through people. Anyone can be a leader and develop as a leader. We are looking to empower a new generation of leaders that aims to create a waste-free world by working locally and cooperating globally.
04. Technology
05. Fun
mobilizing millions of people around the world to clean their communities and have fun while doing it is instrumental to the solution and to the effort to keep our planet clean.