On 3 May 2008, 50,000 volunteers from all over Estonia (nearly 10 % of the employed population) came together to collect illegally dumped rubbish from forests, ditches, roadsides and elsewhere. Over 10 tonnes of rubbish was collected over all, and Estonia became much cleaner. The initiator of the action was Rainer Nõlvak, who led a volunteer group under the banner Let’s Do It.

The results in Estonia show that EUR 22.5 million worth of work was carried out by the volunteers for EUR 0.5 million. The State Forest Management Centre estimates that the amount of rubbish in the forests has fallen by 75 % since 2008. Social awareness on issues of waste and sustainable lifestyle has increased.

Since 2008, cleaning-up actions have taken place annually, first spreading to our neighbouring countries (Latvia and Lithuania), later around Eastern Europe and as far as India and Brazil.

The Let’s Do It team now aims to make this a global phenomenon through a project called Let’s Do It World! As by now the clean-up actions have taken place in 12 countries and have involved more than 2 million people, there is a good chance that the project has found a fertile ground.

From the outset, members of the Estonian parliament have actively participated in the organisation of the event, but mostly in the cleaning-up itself, side-by-side with the people. Around 20–30 % of MPs have rolled up their sleeves and taken part over the years. It is up to us all, regardless of our profession or position, to keep our country clean, and to clean it up ourselves if necessary.

Members of the Estonian parliament are honoured to support the spreading of this admirable initiative that originated in Estonia.