VVD calls to keep the surrounding environment clean all year round – not only on the Day of Great Talk

Every year, the residents of Latvia agree to clean up the environment. This is a common goal, but there is always a part of the population that litters the area. In the first 3 months of this year, 1105 Environmental SOS messages have already been received, which is almost half more than last year in this time period. Of all the reports received, about 75% are about littering the environment with various types of waste.

“Each of us is responsible for the impact of our actions on the environment. What we can do is to reduce the generated waste, and manage those that are generated responsibly. Illegally dumped construction debris, furniture, electrical goods and household waste are still found in the forests, which significantly and negatively affect the cleanliness and quality of the environment. At the same time, each of us can be a guardian of the environment, keeping the surroundings clean and tidy,” urges Elmārs Jasinskis, head of the Operational Coordination Center of the State Environmental Service (VVD).

Also this year, similarly to the previous one, the residents of Riga and Pieriga have reported the most actively in the Environmental SOS app, and the municipalities and forest managers of these administrative territories have also actively dealt with the received reports. Already less than 40% of the reports received this year have been resolved, in other words, the contaminated areas have been cleaned and returned to their natural state.

This year, the guiding principle of the Great Cleanup is “clean – green – long”, so in particular, VVD encourages cleaners, when cleaning up forests and roadsides, not only to collect discarded waste, but to sort it immediately, thus giving the opportunity for the collected waste to have as little impact as possible on the environment, taking into account that part of the waste can be recycled. You can find the nearest sorted waste collection point on the website: skiroviegli.lv.

“If we succeed in raising public awareness and eradicating environmental littering, it would give an opportunity in the coming years, within the framework of the Great District, not to fight with littered areas, but to improve and beautify the environment around us. To help the environment to recover by planting trees, bushes or to improve the landscape in some other way,” says Laura Anteina, VVD’s deputy director general for strategic development and control, about the desired future direction.

VVD invites you to download the Environmental SOS application on your phone when you go to clean up and report any construction debris or bulky waste found in nature. Also, those cleaners who already have the VIDES SOS app on their phones must make sure that the latest available version of the application is downloaded in order to successfully submit a report.

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