“A Million Bags of Litter” campaign

Kuopio is participating in Yle’s nationwide “A Million Bags of Litter” campaign again this year. The campaign starts on April 15^th and ends on June 5^th, 2024. The goal is to inspire people to collect one million bags of litter from the environment and to reduce indifference towards littering. Municipalities and cities as well as organizations and communities participating in the campaign encourage their residents or members to collect litter. Read more about the campaign on Yle’s website.

Kuopio was also involved in the 2023 campaign, where over 210,000 bags of litter were collected throughout Finland. In Kuopio, a total of 4,217 bags of litter were collected, and the city took 8^th place in the competition. Inspired by the campaign, several events were organised: the city carried out a litter excursion on the island of Pölhö, and the city’s residents’ committees organized numerous litter walks. In addition to these, several other entities, such as Kuopio Friends of Nature (KLYY) and the University of Eastern Finland, organised their own litter campaigns. School classes participated as well. Students from the Martti Ahtisaari school, for example, collected close to 100 bags of litter along Saaristokatu. Yle interviewed Kuopio’s summer intern Hanna Möykkynen about her observations regarding litter collection, you can read Yle’s news here.

Take part in the campaign!

Anyone can participate in the campaign either alone or in a group, for example with family or friends. Collected litter bags can be counted on Yle’s website with the location where the litter bags were collected. The size of the litter bag is not specified. Everyone can take part in the campaign, regardless of whether their locality/community has registered as a partner. Individuals do not need to register for the campaign separately.

Please familiarise yourself with the litter collection instructions (safety instructions – in Finnish, pdf) in advance.

Collected litter

Collected litter bags can be marked on YLE’s website to the litter counter yle.fi/miljoonaroskapussia, the counter will be open during the campaign from 15 April to 5 June 2024.

If possible, please take the collected litter to your own or the housing company’s trash cans, as trash cans in parks or other public areas are quite small and fill up quickly.

For a litter collection campaign, it is recommended to contact the city’s maintenance department in advance to arrange the litter removal, see the instructions below.

Borrow litter pickers from the libraries

Individual litter pickers can be borrowed from the main library and all nearby libraries. The loan period for litter pickers is two weeks and they can be borrowed with a library card.

In addition, one litter picker set with about 10 litter pickers, attention vests and a few garbage bags can be borrowed from the main library. The set can also be borrowed with a library card, the loan period is two weeks.

You can check the borrowing status of the litter pickers on the library’s page.

The individual litter pickers and the set will remain available for borrowing in libraries even after the “A Million Bags of Litter” campaign. Note: Litter pickers cannot be borrowed from the city council building anymore. This was only possible during the 2023 campaign.

Litter collecting events

For a litter collecting event, it is recommended to contact the city’s maintenance in advance, so you can agree where to collect the litter bags for removal.

Instructions:

• Send the information about the litter picking event as an e-mail to city’s maintenance kunnossapito(a)kuopio.fi before the event. Include information about the litter collection, i.e. from which area the collection takes place and when, as well as the contact person’s information. Agree with the maintenance where the litter bags can be piled up after collection.
• Garbage bags for your litter picking event can be picked up from the urban environment’s customer service (city council building, Suokatu 42). Check the opening hours here.
• After the trash collection, send an email to maintenance to inform them that the trash can be picked up.

You can also find the litter collecting event -instructions here: instructions for litter picking event (in Finnish, pdf).

Join the trash collection events organized by the city

The city organizes garbage collection events open to everyone during May. You can come directly to the mentioned meeting point, no pre-registration is required. Bring gloves to protect your hands, shoes with firm soles and also a small plastic bag for garbage collection.

• Clean harbor – litter collecting event, Sun 5 May, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Meeting and supplies at Satamatori, Kauppakatu 1.
• Million trash bags -walk in Länsi-Puijo, Wed 15 May, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Meeting and supplies at Länsi-Puijo residents’ housing, Rypysuontie 68.
• Million trash bags -walk in Puijonlaakso, Fri 24 May, from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. Gathering and supplies at the Puijonlaakso local library, Mailatie 2. We will go around Sammakkolampi for the Lähiö event.
• Litter collecting event, Mon 27 May at 15-17. Meeting place Kuopionlahti field, Kuopionkahdenkatu 12. Come along to collect trash from the banks of Kallavesi from Kuopio bay in the direction of Haapaniemi. At the same time, we discuss what kind of effects garbage has on nature. You can come along for as long or as little time as you want. Be prepared with your own water bottle, gloves and closed-toe shoes. More information: Anniina Le Tortorec, tel. 044 718 2143, anniina.letortorec(a)kuopio.fi.
• Million trash bags -walk in Neulamäki, Fri 31 May, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Meeting and supplies at Neulamäki local library, Juontotie 6. Let’s go around Neulamäki market for the Lähiö event.

Page updated April 15, 2024