Get Active
So, you want to become active and clean your area immediately? Awesome! Here are some tips, tools and a list of local partners that will help you along the way.
TIPS
THE MUNICIPALITY CAN HELP: whether that is with providing grabbers, or picking up litter, the Municipalities of Middelburg and Vlissingen are very willing to help with efforts to keep the municipality clean.
JUST USE A SHOPPING BAG AND/OR GLOVES - you don't actually need any fancy equipment to be able to do a clean-up: gloves and a bag from a grocery store are perfectly enough to do a clean-up.
LEAVE COLLECTED TRASH NEXT TO CITY TRASH CANS - this way, even if you didn't arrange pick-up with the municipality, the regular bin emptying crew will take it (usually within 24 hours).
DO IT WITH FRIENDS! This way you can take turns carrying the bag as it gets heavier. But more importantly, a clean-up can serve as a great base to connect with each other more.
JUST DO IT - it takes 5 seconds with a trash can nearby and saves incredible costs in the future.
TOOLS
PLASTIC AVENGERS: This app was developed by the Plastic Surfer and the Zwerfinator. The strategy is to collect pictures/data on one specific piece of litter at a time, to then go into conversation with policy makers to see what can be done about that item. These two are essentially the reason that "statiegeld" exists in The Netherlands!
LITTERATI: This is a litter monitoring app. During a clean-up you can take pictures of the items you find (one item per picture) and label them accordingly. The data then gets collected to map out hotspots and for further research.
PARTNERS
DOE MEE, VERLOS DE ZEE! Or "join us, relieve the sea" is a Zeeland foundation has worked with us on clean-ups since the very beginning, way before we were even officially established. There are a couple of cleaning groups spread out across the province that meet once a week to clean various beaches. This same organisation is also responsible for the blue containers along the coast.
Contact: info@verlosdezee.nl
STRANDKORREL: Based in Schouwen Duiveland, Henk Visser focuses on the Eastern Scheldt, and specifically the nerdles that are found there. He collaborates with HZ relatively frequently and is always open to student participation.
Contact: henk@strandkorrel.nl
WIJ ZIJN DE STAD, MIDDELBURG: this organisation has clean-up materials at their location in Middelburg (Zusterplein 8) that you can borrow if you feel like doing a clean-up on your own time. We collaborate on clean-ups regularly.
Contact @wijzijndestad on Instagram
