World Cleanup Day returns to Paris La Défense on Thursday 14 September 2023

For the past 6 years, Paris La Défense has been taking part in a giant waste collection operation to mark World Cleanup Day. The public institution and 10 local businesses will be mobilised to collect cigarette butts in public spaces.

From midday onwards, employees of Paris La Défense and 10 companies in the business district will be collecting cigarette butts discarded on the slab. Participants will compete for the record number of cigarette butts collected. In 2022, over 43,200 cigarette butts were collected... so how many will there be this year?

Meet at 12 noon, Place de La Défense / Exit Métro-RER Calder Miro

What is World Cleanup Day?

The annual World Cleanup Day challenge is first and foremost a global citizen and environmental action aimed at cleaning up the planet in one day.

The purpose of this day is to mobilise and raise awareness among local users so that they adopt the right environmental protection measures.

The movement was born out of the alarming extent of littering. Every day, around the world, almost 12 billion cigarettes are thrown on the ground and almost 140,000 cigarette butts are discarded every second... The composition of cigarettes is as toxic for the human body as it is polluting, the structure of the filter behaving like plastic waste and becoming even more toxic after the cigarette has burnt.

Everywhere in the world, many people are setting up local actions, federated by World Cleanup Day, using fun and educational methods. The aim of these days is to raise awareness among participants, so that they can reflect on their daily consumption and the resulting production of waste.

The World Cleanup Day France association

The association was founded in 2017 to promote World Cleanup Day in France. It is supported by the international NGO Let's Do It World, which has so far attracted the participation of 191 countries and hopes to mobilise 15 million participants worldwide by 2022. The association's mission is summed up by the acronym MIPC, which stands for "mobilise, inform, preserve and change".

To find out more about the association World Cleanup Day

Practical information:
14 September 2023 from 12 noon
Meet at Place de La Défense / Calder Miro metro-RER exit

Place de La Défense