Let’s make Vaasa the cleanest city in Finland! Do a good deed for the environment by collecting litter

The Million Trash Bags campaign kicks off on Monday, April 15, and ends on June 5. The collected trash bags will be marked on the campaign page at yle.fi/miljoonaroskapussia, where the number of collected bags updates in real-time.

Last spring, a total of 210,372 trash bags were collected and recorded nationwide. The counter will continue from this figure when it opens.

– After the snow melts in spring, a large amount of litter is revealed in the environment. Our goal is to inspire people to collect a million bags of litter from the environment, reduce indifference towards littering, and make people aware of the amount of litter, says Pia Louhivuori, producer behind the campaign at Yle.

Online counter calculates the number of collected trash bags in real time 

The collected trash bags are marked on a real-time updating counter on the yle.fi/miljoonaroskapussia page and listed by location. In addition to the common good, there’s a real competition between Finnish municipalities.

In Vaasa, we naturally aim to win the competition!

– Last year, we ranked quite excellently fourth among cities with over 50,000 inhabitants. This achievement is thanks to everyone who collected trash. This year, we have a good chance to achieve an even better ranking, encourages Kaj–Erik Grandell, Vaasa’s City Gardener.

Collecting litter is a good deed for the environment. Residents of Vaasa are also performing good deeds this year, so by collecting, we hit two goals with one action.

– Making others happy, helping, and taking care of the environment increases everyone’s happiness. When you collect litter, you also contribute to the number of good deeds performed in the city and collected at www.vaasa.fi/yearofgooddeeds. We will also record the trash bags the trash bags we collect as good deeds into that counter, says Leena Forsén, Director of Communication and Marketing.

We provide trash bags and pickers

During the campaign, there are 16 large litter bins throughout Vaasa, marked with visible signs and emptied more frequently than usual during the campaign.

– We hope that all residents will participate massively in this cleanup effort, and the collected trash bags will be primarily taken to these litter bins. Of course, other city litter bins are also in use per usual, and the trash bags can also be brought directly to the city garden, Grandell continues.

We provide trash bags and pickers for collectors to make it easy to collect litter from the ground. There are a limited number of litter picks, so please reserve them in advance. (Contact details below!)

Employees of the City of Vaasa are also encouraged to collect litter.

– We want to set an example by offering employees the opportunity to collect rubbish during the working day, to the extent that their job allows. We also invite all residents, businesses, associations, and communities in the area to join the campaign! Let’s work together to make Vaasa the cleanest city in Finland, says Grandell.

How to participate in the campaign

1. Get a Yle ID: https://yle.fi/aihe/yle-tunnus.
2. Bring trash pickers, gloves, and an empty bag.
3. Head outdoors – alone or with a group.
4. Collect litter from the environment.
5. Dispose of the collected trash in mixed waste when the bag is full.
6. Log in to Yle’s website.
7. Mark the number of collected trash bags under the city/municipality where you collected the trash at yle.fi/miljoonaroskapussia
8. Challenge your friends to join in!

The size of the trash bag is not precisely defined. The main thing is to collect litter!

Need trash bags or pickers? Contact:

• Simo Marttila, 0400 668 649
• Inger Norrgård, 040 195 4031
• Susanna Helenelund, 040 702 8277