Environmental department head Heilig had hoped that the cleanliness campaign "Frankfurt Cleanup" would meet with a good response. But she was pleasantly surprised by the great interest. After the registration deadline was extended due to the great demand, more than 750 Frankfurt residents have now registered to take part in this day of action: "Among them are 77 groups that collect rubbish together in their districts, but also many individuals. Thank you to all who want to participate and show that a clean Frankfurt is close to their hearts," praised Environment Minister Rosemarie Heilig on Thursday.
Those who still want to get involved after the registration deadline can of course still do so, as the head of department emphasizes: "Anyone who wants to help us spontaneously can meet me on Thursday, September 21, on the banks of the Main at 11 am near the Iron Pier. From there, we will clean up the Main embankment together in the direction of Hafenpark," explained Heilig. There, as patron of "Frankfurt Cleanup", she will officially open the Cleanup Day: "Maybe we'll break the 1,000 mark then," said Heilig. She appealed: "Let us all together make a statement against littering and against the flood of waste on our planet."
The cleanliness day "Frankfurt Cleanup" takes place as part of the World Cleanup Day 2019 - together with cities in more than 150 countries worldwide. Alongside Berlin and Munich, Frankfurt is the third major partner of World Cleanup Day in Germany.
"A total of 500 cleanup initiatives in more than 200 cities have currently registered this year," says Holger Holland, project manager of World Cleanup Day in Germany. The interest this year is huge and every Cleanup counts, says Holland. The aim of World Cleanup Day is not just to remove rubbish from public places; municipal and private companies in Germany have been doing a good job here for a long time, Holland added: "We want to raise awareness of the extent to which we litter and destroy our environment.
The "Frankfurt Cleanup" is being organized by the cleanliness campaign #cleanffm, the Parks Department and the FES, which will provide reusable gloves, garbage tongs and garbage bags to all who participate. FES Executive Director Benjamin Scheffler said, "We think it's great that a citywide collection day is taking root in addition to the many neighborhood collections that have skyrocketed in the last two years. The list of participants shows that we have once again succeeded in activating completely new groups in the citizenry for the topic. FES employees will also be volunteering to clean up on this day - and out of good neighbourly tradition around our premises in the Bornheim district."
FES also provides the registration platform http://cleanup.fes-frankfurt.de or http://www.ffmcleanup.de, where all interested parties can get information about "Frankfurt Cleanup" even after the registration deadline. Those who prefer to do so in person can do so at the FES Service Center in the city center at Liebfrauenberg 52-54.
The Parks Department is also participating in the "Frankfurt Cleanup". After the end of the action around 4 p.m., the employees will pick up the garbage bags at the marked points. The Cleanup Day will start at 9 a.m. on September 21.
Background
World Cleanup Day has its roots in Estonia and has been held every year on the 3rd Saturday in September since 2008. Saturday in September, in Germany for the first time last year on September 15. In 2018, 17,000,000 people worldwide in over 150 countries stood up against the global trash problem and made a statement against trash and for our Earth. More info is available at https://deutschlandmacht.de/about/ online.
