Under the Canopi: Top Of The Pick: Towards A Litter Free World?

Conversations on Resource Use and the Circular Economy in Luxembourg and beyond / Winter 2024 - Conversation II

“Every week you are likely to consume roughly a credit card's worth of plastic.[1] Plastic litter often ends up in our water systems, feeds into oceans and ultimately the human food chain. Litter disrupts habitats, threatens biodiversity and contributes to urban decay in safety and community wellbeing.” César González Fernández - Co-Founder CSFN

From beaches to bus stations, CSFN arranges corporate and citizen collective litter pickups across the globe - meet Clean Something for Nothing (CSFN) the Green Tech startup leading the mission in Luxembourg and beyond to tackle the crisis of litter pollution and take us closer to a litter free world . . . one bag of rubbish at a time.

What is CSFN’s origin story?

It started back in 2018 as a hobby which organically grew into an Instagram community. I was out on a walk and noticed the litter in my neighbourhood - it bothered me that day; so I decided to do something about it. I went to the kitchen and picked up a rubbish bag and spent ten minutes cleaning the street outside my home. I realized it looked much better just after 10 minutes.  I saw it was possible to create value out of ten minutes of my time! Then I started the Clean Something For Nothing page on Instagram and the movement was born. I began posting my clean-ups and also reposting other people's clean-ups using the hashtag #cleansomethingfornothing – and it went viral.

You are joined by your co-founder Léster  - what is his role?

Léster developed the CSFN app. We had a common friend who happened to be my neighbour. He told Léster about the movement and he thought: “Wow, I love this”, and wanted to get involved. Eventually, we met and got along very well and then began the creative process of designing the app.

Why does tackling litter pollution matter?

Economically it costs EU countries 13 billion a year. Socially, I think we are failing as a society, if we litter the places we are living in, as this degrades them. Environmentally, we are ingesting plastic because plastic is everywhere and this plastic has become litter which is eaten by the animals we consume. Plastic enters the food chain, not just via animals, but also  through the plastic containers we use in our daily lives [microplastic interactions leading to plastic leeching]. Litter is polluting our habitats and degrading our neighbourhoods. But with organized collective action to pick up this waste, we can tackle this problem - one bag at a time, making our communities healthier and happier.

What happens at a clean-up?

A clean-up is a two-hour activity. In the first 15 minutes, we introduce volunteers to the activity, informing them about the litter situation in Luxembourg, giving them facts and figures. Then we distribute the equipment; visibility vests, litter pickers and rubbish bags. We explain the safety measures and how to sort the trash collected. About an hour and a half  is set aside to walk to and clean-up a designated area.

Employee Volunteering - Team building Silicon Luxembourg Clean-up Challenge 2024

How do you choose sites for a clean-up?

Well, you need to know the city – the hotspots, not just for people but also for their rubbish. We try to go to green spaces. We find sites where cleaning services do not typically reach. Sometimes, surprisingly, we find litter in the forest – in picturesque spots where people have left nature untidy.

Why is outdoor volunteering beneficial?

It is an opportunity to contribute something tangible to your community. Being closer to nature also improves wellbeing. Outdoors on a shared task, people can connect and share personal experiences which builds trust. Often volunteers tell us that during a clean-up, they forget about everything else and just focus on their hands. For an hour and a half, you are on a mission just to find the trash.  You become wholly present on the activity and it reduces feelings of being stressed and overwhelmed. By cleaning nature, we help to make habitats healthy again. We remove non-biodegradable and waste from the environment. These are substances which nature cannot breakdown.

How do you measure your impact - Do you weigh the trash collected?

Weighing impact - Silicon Luxembourg Clean-up Challenge - 2024

The rubbish collected is weighed by hand using hand scales. I personally carry a hand scale! The app also has an estimate for weight – you select the number of bags and we measure weight and volume; 1kg for every 10L.This is based on our data gathered at over seventy clean ups. It is not a strict rule as the waste gathered can be heavy or light. A sack of glass bottles, for example, is heavier than a sack of cans. Weighing rubbish is an important metric for quantifying impact.

What are the top littering hotspots?

• Spaces beside fast food outlets
• Parking lots
• Beautiful remote sightseeing spots in nature
• Places where people gather to drink outdoors
• Bus stops[2]

So, the action came first and the app came later. That is a wonderfully organic way to get the business off the ground. How was the app designed? 

It was a fun creative journey. Before building an app, we tested all the existing apps on the global market - there were 15 different apps. We evaluated all apps available worldwide and came to the conclusion they were data-oriented and not easy to navigate, therefore, the user experience was the not optimal. So, we decided to ask the community. We hosted Skype calls and asked; “What is your ideal app and what would you need it to have?” We also gathered insights from the reviews in the Apple App Store. Then, thanks mainly to Léster (co-founder), the app was built – he was the mastermind behind the development of the app.

Tell us about the most scenic habitats where a clean-up has been organized?

This Spring I co-hosted a group of over forty people from Málaga to do a collective clean-up on a beach. It was a collaboration with the ANDALIMPIA group, “Fridays for Málaga" and "Equilibrio Marino". We collected about 300 kgs of trash.

We chose a spot near the airport in Malaga which was quite messy. It was a site where people drink and leave their trash behind with few bins in sight. It was amazing to see the difference before and after. At the end we had a big social with paella cooked by the well-known local chef Albert Iniesta Garciolo - he supports community action. His way of giving back was to make paella for all of the volunteers!  It was deeply satisfying after an afternoon of cleaning, to have this paella feast – the sense of connection was wonderfully convivial.

 

Beach clean-up Málaga - May 2024

Volunteers have said things such as; “My head was running very fast with many thoughts here and there but it didn't this hour and a half. I've just been focused on this and forgot about the rest”

How can we take steps closer to a litter free world?

Be mindful of your consumption. Think carefully - what do you really need to buy or not  buy. Remember that everything contributes – every small action counts both for good or bad. The global population is over 8 billion; if everyone of us cleans up 2.2kg of trash there would be no more litter. Be mindful of your disposal habits too. Remember to use rubbish bins and take your litter away with you if in nature and there are no bins. You could carry a container/bag for your litter in green spaces. Leave places better than you found them. We can make planet earth clean again.

#leaveitbetterthanyoufoundit #cleansomethingfornothing

César González Fernández – Co Founder – CSFN

Sarah Basemera - Guest Author and Co-founder Canopi and Sustainability Communications

Collective Cleanup - Málaga 2024

Wondering how you can take part in a clean-up?

• As a citizen - Download the CSFN app. Give as a meaningful birthday or Christmas gift.

• As a commune - Consider getting involved in the Letz Clean municipality challenge with CSFN.

• For companies - Go to the CSFN website B2B section and explore the corporate packages available.

[1] According to the WWF* plastic is devastating wildlife and plaguing our oceans.

[2] These are typically littered with cigarette butts. 13,000 cigarette butts are thrown every second in the world. They are composed of plastic and toxic chemicals which take half a century to biodegrade.