Credit: St George's International School
St George's International School has reported that its students contributed to World Cleanup Day by collecting rubbish from Luxembourg-Hamm and the surrounding neighbourhood.
20 the school's "Eco-Agents" joined forces with non-profit organisations Clean Something for Nothing (CSFN) and Sea Shepherd to pick up litter for one hour along the streets and by the Alzette River as part of an official World Cleanup Day event. They collected over 300 cigarette butts and several kilograms of rubbish.
St George's Sustainability Coordinator Anne-Marie McHugh said the students were eager to be involved and have a positive impact in the community, despite the wet conditions on Monday 30 September 2024. "It was wonderful to see the passion of students, collaborating with the Clean Something for Nothing team for a community cleanup to help the local area," said Ms McHugh. "One cigarette butt can pollute 500 litres of water, so the collection of 300 cigarette butts helped to reduce the pollution of 150,000 litres of water."
The cleanup day signalled the start of a month-long competition in which St George's students use the Clean Something for Nothing app to track the amount of rubbish they collect. CSFN founder César González Fernández, who joined Monday's cleanup, said his organisation was excited to team up with St George’s for the challenge. "Empowering students and their families to take small actions daily inspires change and helps us protect Luxembourg's natural beauty," he noted. "These students are our future and it's important to keep it in good hands. Through CSFN, we make it easy for everyone to track their impact and join a worldwide movement that’s making a real difference."
Samuel I, a Year 5 student, said after the cleanup: "I enjoyed the activity, but we need more help. We need a big community effort to help clean up all this waste. Over 8 million cigarette butts are dropped every minute around the world."
