On September 20th, millions of people across 190 counties will take to the streets, parks, rivers, and beaches for the world’s largest single-day cleanup event: the 8th annual World Cleanup Day.
EARTHDAY.ORG, the global organiser of Earth Day itself, supports Let’s Do It World, the creator and organiser of World Cleanup Day, on their 2025 theme “Strive for Five!.” This is a science-backed approach to environmental transformation that calls for 5% of the global population to participate in cleanups this September, knowing that once this critical threshold is reached, it can trigger sweeping behavioural changes worldwide on plastic pollution.
EARTHDAY.ORG’s 2025 theme, Our Power, Our Planet, underscores the power individuals, communities, and nations each have to create a healthy and safe world, free of trash, for all human beings. This is why EARTHDAY.ORG and Let’s Do It World continue to call for a meaningful and binding Global Plastics Treaty at the international level, and for a 60% reduction in plastic production by 2040.
This year’s World Cleanup Day will kick off with a live broadcast from Kiev, Ukraine, showcasing stories from around the world, and highlighting the impact of cleanups happening in real time.
Millions of people will join together to not only clean up their communities, but to call for world peace, sending a powerful message that solutions are possible when we act together. With International Day of Peace falling on the following day, September 21st, this message is now more important than ever.
In Ukraine, polluted waterways, fragmented forests, and contaminated soils highlight the devastating effects of war on the environment. Against this backdrop, cleanups take on even greater meaning, as a step not only toward environmental restoration but also a symbol of collective healing.
“Cleanups have always been more than just picking up trash. They are about uniting people, communities, and the world to build a safer and more sustainable future for us all,” said Michael Karapetian, The Great Global Cleanup Coordinator at EARTHDAY.ORG. “Now we know, too, that microplastics are linked to a range of serious health issues. It’s never been more important to clean up our plastic waste.”
“Hosting World Cleanup Day in Ukraine this year sends a powerful signal around the planet,” said Heidi Solba, President and CEO of Let’s Do It World. “Even in the face of conflict and environmental destruction, communities can rise to restore their land, their rivers, and their future. World Cleanup Day has always been about uniting communities to safeguard their environment and to heal, both socially and ecologically, through collective action.”
EARTHDAY.ORG’s mission is to diversify, educate, and activate the environmental movement worldwide. Growing out of the first Earth Day (1970), EARTHDAY.ORG is the world’s largest recruiter to the environmental movement, working with more than 150,000 partners in over 190 countries to build environmental democracy. More than 1 billion people now participate in Earth Day activities each year, making it the largest civic observance in the world. Its flagship volunteer initiative, The Great Global Cleanup® takes place year round and engages millions of volunteers in creating clean communities worldwide. To learn more, please visit: EARTHDAY. ORG
For Media Inquiries/background/quotes and interviews:
Sarah Davies, davies@earthday.org, +1 240 463 1341 (Washington DC)
Terran Fielder, fielder@earthday.org, +1 661 444 4436 (Washington DC)
Let’s Do It World is a global organisation that unites more than 191 countries’ teams worldwide into the biggest active network to unite their efforts for the waste free World. The World Cleanup Day is the biggest event organised by LDIW and during the last seven worldwide cleanups have engaged more than 114 million people from 211 countries and territories. The Let’s Do It World network is addressing numerous global and regional projects to catalyse the activities in countries for the circular economy as well as for zero waste. Learn more at worldcleanupday.org
Kristiina Herodes, kristiina.herodes@ldiw.org (Tallinn, Estonia)
.svg){kind=logo}