CUTW 2013 summary.

Saturday morning saw a carnival like Parade launch Clean up the World. The weekend clean up got off to a very bright, loud and energised start. The Parade was supported by local schools, clubs, associations and Govt Ministers. Art in Movement led the walkers with rthymic drumming which attracted much attention. Many school children had created signs and banners made from recycled materials especially for the Parade and bright, important messages about protecting the environment were on display and shouted out by the pupils. Once at the Square and after a few words were spoken by organisers and the Minister for the Environment the crowd was entertained by fabulous dance displays by Art in Movement and Danza Academy. Thanks to all who made this extraordinarily special.

Meanwhile over 400 volunteers transformed several parts of Gibraltar leaving these pristine clean, well, for a short while at least. General litter as well as contractors materials from slopes, underwater sites and green areas was collected in the space of a few hours. Our symbolic mountain at the main dump was this time distrbuted to three separate centres. Around 40 trucks and 6 skips were used. A large site, Seven Sisters, will be collected sometime this week. The ESG will follow up various issues with Government, the Ministry and related agencies at the upcoming Litter Committee meetings where this years lessons will be tabled for further action.

The dive clean up was very efficient this year with record number divers turning up supported by land based teams which made the removal of water based rubbish a little easier. A scorching sun however, made the final clear up at this site quite a challenge when teams had to bring up the waste to the top of a very steep slope at Rosia Bay. Abseilers tackled otherwise inaccessible sites also supported by other teams and the Seven Sisters, also only accessible by boat, witnessed a major clear out of rubbish. This site will be cleared later on this week. Town sites that proved shockingly diffficult to clean were Hargraves pitch – and an untouchable site identified during the 2013 campaign was the Police Barracks which is in a critical condition and needs urgent attention.

We began the Clean up in Gibraltar as an awareness raising and educational campaign that also seeks to keep the agenda moving forward to bring about positive lasting changes in Gibraltar’s physical environment. We did this again this year -as a community, with multi-level support, and a great feeling of camaraderie.
Looking ahead we shall be publishing a series of photographs of all the teams and support network – as well as a detailed report with a compilation of issues identified by volunteers and recommendations for solutions to some of the recurring problems.

Thanks to everyone involved. Together we CAN make a difference!
kind regards
J Howitt