Article categories: Archive News
Let’s make Vaasa the cleanest city in Finland - The Million Trash Bags campaign inspires everyone to collect litter from the environment
Published: 29.3.2023
Updated: 6.4.2023
This spring, Yle is organising a nationwide Million Trash Bags campaign, the goal of which is to inspire people to collect one million bags of garbage from the environment. Vaasa is also involved in the campaign together with more than 140 cities and municipalities. Collected trash bags are marked on the campaign website for your locality. Come join us in making Vaasa the cleanest city in Finland!
The Million Trash Bags campaign starts on Thursday, 13 April and lasts for two months until 14 June. Collected trash bags are marked on the campaign page yle.fi/miljoonaroskapussia, where the number of collected bags is visible in real time.
– A huge amount of litter turns up in the spring after the snow has melted. Our goal is to inspire people to collect a million bags of trash from the environment, reduce indifference towards littering and astonish people into seeing the amount of litter there actually is, says Pia Louhivuori, who is the producer in charge of the campaign, in Yle’s press release.
The campaign is prominently featured on Yle’s various channels and programmes. The journey towards a million trash bags will be started live on 13 April at 20:00 on Yle TV1 and Yle Areena. The patron of the campaign is the spouse of the President of the Republic, Dr. Jenni Haukio.
The faces of the campaign are Inka Henelius, Anniina Valtonen, Mikko “Peltsi” Peltola, Kerttu Kotakorpi and Olli Haapakangas, who are well-known from Yle channels.
Online counter shows number of collected trash bags in real time
The collected trash bags are marked on the real-time updating counter on the yle.fi/miljoonaroskapussia website for the locality where the garbage bags were collected. So, in addition to the common good, there will be a real competition between Finnish localities!
In Vaasa, we want to go and win the whole competition of course, like we did in the I love muovi (plastic) recycling campaign arranged a few years ago.
– We have 16 large waste containers around the city, which are marked with a visible sign and emptied more often than normal during the campaign. We hope that the people of Vaasa will participate in the clean-ups in droves and that the collected trash bags will be taken primarily to these waste containers. Of course, the city’s other waste receptacles are also in use as normal, and trash bags can also be brought directly to the Parks Department, says chief gardener Kaj-Erik Grandell.
The Parks Department team provides collectors with trash bags and litter grabbing sticks, which make it easy to collect garbage from the terrain. There is a limited number of grabbing sticks, so those who wish to reserve them in advance are asked to contact the Parks Department team. You can find the contact information at the end of the bulletin.
– Taking care of the environment is something we all share. We challenge all residents, companies, associations and communities in the area to join the campaign. Together, we can make Vaasa the cleanest city in Finland, says Grandell.
Employees of the City of Vaasa are also encouraged to collect litter.
– We want to set an example by offering employees the chance to collect litter also during the working day, according to their work possibilities, says Grandell.
How to participate in the campaign
- Take a grabber stick, gloves and an empty bag with you
- Go out – alone or with a group
- Collect litter from the environment
- Take the litter you collect to a mixed waste container when the trash bag is full
- Mark the number of trash bags you collect in Vaasa at yle.fi/miljoonaroskapussia
- Challenge your friends too!
The size of the trash bag is not precisely defined. The main thing is that the litter is collected!
Do you need trash bags or litter picking equipment? Take contact:
- Simo Marttila, 0400 668 649
- Inger Norrgård, 040 195 4031
- Susanna Helenelund, 040 702 8277