Home » Top Of the Pick: Towards A Litter Free World?
Top Of the Pick: Towards A Litter Free World?
CSFN leads the fight against litter with cleanups like the Silicon Luxembourg Challenge. Small actions can create a cleaner world for all.
4 min read
Clean-up challenge Silicon Luxembourg May 2024 – Pfaffenthal– Kirchberg
“Every week you are likely to consume roughly a credit card’s worth of plastic. Plastic litter often ends up in our water systems, feeds into oceans and ultimately the human food chain. Litter disrupts habitats, threatens biodiversity and contributes to urban decay in safety and community wellbeing.” César González Fernández – Co-Founder CSFN
Meet Clean Something for Nothing (CSFN) the Green Tech startup leading the mission in Luxembourg and beyond, to tackle the crisis of litter pollution and take us closer to a litter free world . . . one bag of rubbish at a time.
From beaches to bus stations CSFN arranges corporate and citizen collective litter pickups across the globe. César reveals how his passion became a community movement . . .
What is CSFN’s origin story?
It started back in 2018 as a hobby which organically grew into an Instagram community. I was out on a walk and noticed the litter in my neighbourhood – it bothered me that day; so I decided to do something about it. I went to the kitchen and picked up a rubbish bag and spent ten minutes cleaning the street outside my home. I realized it looked much better just after 10 minutes. I saw it was possible to create value out of ten minutes of my time! Then I started the Clean Something For Nothing page on Instagram and the movement was born. I began posting my clean-ups and also reposting other people’s clean-ups using the hashtag #cleansomethingfornothing – and it went viral.
You are joined by your co-founder Léster – what is his role?
Léster developed the CSFN app. We had a common friend who happened to be my neighbour. He told Léster about the movement and he thought: “Wow, I love this”, and wanted to get involved. Eventually, we met and got along very well and then began the creative process of designing the app.
Why does tackling litter pollution matter?
Economically it costs EU countries 13 billion a year. Socially, I think we are failing as a society, if we litter the places we are living in, as this degrades them. Environmentally, we are ingesting plastic because plastic is everywhere and this plastic has become litter which is eaten by the animals we consume. Plastic enters the food chain, not just via animals, but also through the plastic containers we use in our daily lives [microplastic interactions leading to plastic leeching]. Litter is polluting our habitats and degrading our neighbourhoods. But with organized collective action to pick up this waste, we can tackle this problem – one bag at a time, making our communities healthier and happier.
What happens at a corporate clean-up?
A corporate clean-up is a two-hour activity. In the first 15 minutes, we introduce participants to the activity, informing them about the litter situation in Luxembourg, giving them facts and figures. Then we distribute the equipment; visibility vests, litter pickers and rubbish bags. We explain the safety measures and how to sort the trash collected. About an hour and a half is set aside to walk to and clean-up a designated area.
Employee volunteer briefing – Kirchberg
How do you choose sites for corporate clean-ups?
Well, you need to know the city – the hotspots, not just for people but also for their rubbish. We try to go to green spaces. We find sites where cleaning services do not typically reach. Sometimes, surprisingly, we find litter in the forest – in picturesque spots where people have left nature untidy.
How do you measure your impact – Do you weigh the trash collected?
The rubbish collected is weighed by hand using hand scales. I personally carry a hand scale! The app also has an estimate for weight – you select the number of bags and we measure weight and volume; 1kg for every 10L.This is based on our data gathered at over seventy clean ups. It is not a strict rule as the waste gathered can be heavy or light. A sack of glass bottles, for example, is heavier than a sack of cans. Weighing rubbish is an important metric also in sustainability reporting with regulatory requirements such as Corporate Social Responsibility Directive (CSRD) – ESRS E5 Resouce Use And Circular Economy. In scope, large companies will need to disclose the weight of the litter produced from their own operations.
Why is a corporate clean-up beneficial for companies?
Outdoor volunteering is a rewarding experience which provides an opportunity to contribute to something tangible in your community where you operate. It is a refreshing team building activity that boosts team morale – employees feel more engaged. Outdoors on a shared task, people can open up and share personal experiences building trust and connection. Also, being closer to nature improves wellbeing. Employee volunteering within the community contributes positively to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) goals and your local reputation.
What are the top littering hotspots?
⦁ Spaces beside fast food outlets ⦁ Parking lots ⦁ Beautiful remote sightseeing spots in nature ⦁ Places where people gather to drink outdoors ⦁ Bus stops [2]
[2] These are typically littered with cigarette butts. 137000 cigarette butts are thrown every second in the world. They are composed of plastic and toxic chemicals which take half a century to biodegrade.
So, the action came first and the app came later. That is a wonderfully organic way to get the business off the ground. How was the app designed?
It was a fun creative journey. Before building an app, we tested all the existing apps on the global market – there were 15 different apps. We evaluated all apps available worldwide and came to the conclusion they were data-oriented and not easy to navigate, therefore, the user experience was the not optimal. So, we decided to ask the community. We hosted Skype calls and asked; “What is your ideal app and what would you need it to have?” We also gathered insights from the reviews in the Apple App Store. Then, thanks mainly to Léster (co-founder), the app was built – he was the mastermind behind the development of the app.
Tell us about the most scenic habitats where a clean-up has been organized?
This Spring I co-hosted a group of over forty people from Málaga to do a collective clean-up on a beach. It was a collaboration with the ANDALIMPIA group, “Fridays for Málaga” and “Equilibrio Marino”. We collected about 300 kgs of trash. We chose a spot near the airport in Malaga which was quite messy. It was a site where people drink and leave their trash behind with few bins in sight. It was amazing to see the difference before and after. At the end we had a big social with paella cooked by the well-known local chef Albert Iniesta Garciolo – he supports community action. His way of giving back was to make paella for all of the volunteers! It was deeply satisfying after an afternoon of cleaning, to have this paella feast – the sense of connection was wonderfully convivial.
Beach clean-up Málaga – May 2024
At a corporate clean-up, what sort of skills are strengthened?
Top of the list of skills strengthened at a corporate clean-up, is concentration. Often volunteers tell us that during a clean-up, they forget about everything else. For an hour and a half, you are on a mission just to find the trash. You become wholly present in the activity and which reduces feelings of stress and being overwhelmed. These outcomes are beneficial for mental health. In a typical office environment, one receives tons of emails, firefighting from one thing to another. Employee volunteering this way is a refreshing pause. You zoom out from daily repetitive tasks and share time with your colleagues for another reason.
Volunteers have said things such as; “My head was running very fast with many thoughts here and there but it didn’t this hour and a half. I’ve just been focused on this and forgot about the rest”
With CSRD – companies can disclose actions taken to prevent the creation of waste. Not just in their own operations upstream and downstream but also along the value chain[3]. Companies can report on initiatives and collaborations with other stakeholders involved in collective action. So maybe we will hear more stories about how companies have partnered with the Social Impact sector to remove waste through initiatives such as collective litter picking.
Have you heard of any positive stories of companies participating in collective litter picking
Companies have effective ways of sharing the tangible positive impacts they have made in the communities where they operate. We are in discussion with a few companies who want to run a corporate challenge to engage their employees across different countries and to create a huge cleanup campaign. These discussions are at an early stage so these positive stories are to come and we desire for more to happen.
Silicon Luxembourg had a corporate clean-up initiative. Can you tell us about this challenge?
Silicon-Lux challenged the startup community to pick up as much trash as possible for a month. For the launch, we found a beautiful secluded patch of forest hidden below the towers of Kirchberg. On day one in Pfaffenthal– Kirchberg we collected over 80 kgs! Overall, we collected over 300 kgs of trash from more than ten collective cleanups. The results were recorded by volunteers in the CSFN app.
Volunteers working together to collect and clean up litter, helping to protect nature.
Employee Volunteering – Team building Silicon Luxembourg Clean-up Challenge 2024
How can we take steps closer to a litter free world?
Be mindful of your consumption. Think carefully – what do you really need to buy or not buy. Remember that everything contributes – every small action counts both for good or bad. The global population is over 8 billion; if everyone of us cleans up 2.2kg of trash there would be no more litter. Be mindful of your disposal habits too. Remember to use rubbish bins and take your litter away with you if in nature and there are no bins. You could carry a container/bag for your litter in green spaces. Leave places better than you found them. We can make planet earth clean again.
