World CleanUp Day / Maas CleanUp
July / August 2021
Since 2018, World Cleanup Day has brought together millions of people for the biggest waste collection day in human history. This year’s World CleanUp Day on 18 September 2021 has a special significance this year for the Maastricht Region. In the wake of the floods that tore through the Maastricht Region in mid-July, we know we have a lot we need to clean up, and we acknowledge that we still have a lot to consider regarding the rubbish that enters the Maas. How can you get involved? The first place to start in the Maastricht Region is Maas CleanUp.
An initiative that started in 2019, Maas CleanUp brings businesses located along the Maas together to brainstorm what they could do to stop rubbish and pollution entering the Maas as it makes it’s journey through Limburg. In 2020 the first Maas CleanUp Day was an outstanding success, involving not only businesses but also more than 5,200 volunteers across 200 clean up activities along 90 kilometres of Maas banks who removed more than 6,000 kilograms of rubbish from our river.
This year Maas CleanUp is upping their game and their expectations, not only organising B2B brainstorming sessions and clean up activities, but also petitioning the government to grant the Maas ‘environmental personhood’. This is a legal concept which designates certain environmental entities the status of a legal person, assigning to these entities the rights, protections, privileges, responsibilities and legal liability of a legal personality. Already the case for the Whanganui River in New Zealand and the Ganges and Yamuna rivers in India, Maas CleanUp, together with IVN Natuur Educatie, want to afford our Maas the same rights.
In addition to World Cleanup Day on 18 September, Maas CleanUp is organising an extra clean-up day on 14 August in Maastricht to help clear up the mess left behind by the floods that made their way through Limburg. Due to the fact that some areas are still unstable and not safe to approach, it is advised that residents wanting to help clean up join official activities that have been cleared by the government organisations.
Residents can also organise their own group and area of activity. Do report this to Maas CleanUp via their website (in Dutch, version in English to come soon), so that they can make sure everything runs as safely as possible.
Visit the Maas Cleanup website
