The concept is simple: spend at least fifteen minutes a week picking up litter wherever you are. And as an incentive, post a simple artwork from the litter on Facebook and tag Crowd Clean World.
“The idea started in 2014 while travelling in Spain and Myanmar,” Dylan recalls. “I was finding travel a little unfulfilling at the time and was looking for a way to contribute back to the countries I was visiting. I’ve travelled through lots of countries where litter is a problem, so this was an obvious way I could help.”
Dylan and Kim spend 10 to 20 minutes once a week cleaning litter, preferably while doing something else such as jogging or walking somewhere. “We do clean-ups both alone and with friends—and spread the idea slowly to people who are interested and want to help. How do we continue? We just do it regularly, and tell others so they can help too.”
Much of the world is educated on the importance of taking care of our natural environment, and much is not. I often see people littering, but more often I see people neglecting to pick up existing litter. Many of these people are educated and want to live in a clean world, but may still litter and walk past rubbish. So how do we change this behaviour? With an ideaCrowd Clean World subscribes to the idea that the world can work together to keep our earth clean. While the earth needs a massive clean-up job, the concept of crowdsourcing can make it manageable and within reach. Dylan explains, “When one million people incorporate 15 minutes picking up litter per week, while doing something else, one million small clean-ups are completed worldwide without anyone having to sacrifice time solely for cleaning.”When one million people incorporate fifteen minutes cleaning per week into their everyday lives, one million small clean-ups are completed worldwide without anyone having to sacrifice time solely for cleaning.Much of the world is educated on the importance of taking care of our natural environment, and much is not. I often see people littering, but more often I see people neglecting to pick up existing litter. Many of these people are educated and want to live in a clean world, but may still litter and walk past rubbish. So how do we change this behaviour? With an idea. Much of the world is educated on the importance of taking care of our natural environment, and much is not. I often see people littering, but more often I see people neglecting to pick up existing litter. Many of these people are educated and want to live in a clean world, but may still litter and walk past rubbish. So how do we change this behaviour? With an idea. Much of the world is educated on the importance of taking care of our natural environment, and much is not. I often see people littering, but more often I see people neglecting to pick up existing litter. Many of these people are educated and want to live in a clean world, but may still litter and walk past rubbish. So how do we change this behaviour? With an idea.
Crowd Clean World is an idea that the world can work together to initially clean the world, and then maintain its cleanliness in the future. Cleaning the world is a massive job. But the concept of crowdsourcing changes that. We have over 7 billion people in our world. When a lot of people do a little each, a big job is done in little time and with little personal effort.
With so much education on how litter affects our world, there are still people who are not concerned about cleaning up. Dylan says that even the educated who do not litter may just walk past rubbish without picking it up. Taking the moment to pick up litter improves awareness of how much rubbish there is, and that awareness can move on to the consciousness of not creating it.
Social media is not just a popular medium of communication, but is already part of our daily life. And if we use it for effecting change, it is something that can improve our lives—and our environment, as Dylan and Kim believe through their Facebook page.
By Roselle Tenefrancia
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