From Kindergarten Kids to CEOs: Switzerland Puts on a Show

Snow-capped Matterhorn, Ponte dei Salti in the Verzasca Valley, or Blausee in Kandergrund – images of idyllic Swiss nature are iconic worldwide. To ensure Switzerland makes headlines for its natural beauty and landscapes rather than littering, tens of thousands of children, club members, community and corporate employees, politicians, and influencers like Flavio Leu joined in today to rid the nation of several tons of litter. Flavio Leu supports IGSU Clean-Up Day 2025 to help ensure international colleagues find an unspoiled nature in Switzerland. 'As a content creator, I know the Internet never forgets. Old pictures, videos, and texts resurface at the most inconvenient times, just like a boomerang,' warns Leu. 'Similarly, nature has a long memory: carelessly discarded plastic bags, cigarette butts, or gum harm the environment and can appear again when we hike, swim, or relax in parks.'

**Work and Pleasure: Cities and Towns Motivate Volunteers**

Numerous cities and towns take the opportunity to spruce up during the Clean-Up Day: Before the event, Chur GR provided participants with gloves, grabbers, and trash bags and will collect the gathered waste post-event at designated locations. Collex-Bossy GE invites volunteers for coffee and pastries before tomorrow’s clean-up and offers pizza afterward. Hüttlingen TG collaborates with the youth center during tomorrow’s clean-up, rewarding participants with a shared lunch following their efforts. Muntelier FR focuses on tidying the Murtensee shore and the nature reserve at Chablaiswald, where summer tourism has left its mark. Lavizzara TI also uses the Clean-Up Day to erase traces; locals will collect waste swept away by floods in June 2024.

**Theory and Practice: Schools Show Commitment**

Schools across the country regularly participate in the IGSU Clean-Up Day: École de la Transition in Morges VD has cleared the city and the Geneva Lake shore of trash, just as in previous years. The primary school in Ziefen BL has already engaged in clean-up actions for the fifth time. Students from first grade through secondary school collected litter on Hochdorf LU streets. The school in Reinach AG wrapped up clean-up day with a trash-art competition. Metzerlen SO uses the Clean-Up Day to kick off a year-long anti-littering program. In Lamone-Cadempino TI, students created posters post- event to raise public awareness about littering issues.

**Restaurants, Banks, and Hotels: Companies Join the Clean-Up**

Each year numerous national and international companies participate in the IGSU Clean-Up Day: McDonald's Switzerland conducts 43 events, engaging about 99% of its restaurants in the effort. SBB again highlights the littering issue during long-distance travel with announcements. Banks and insurers like UBS, Raiffeisen Switzerland, and Helvetia Insurances are committed to a clean Switzerland. Tourism companies ensure Switzerland upholds its reputation: Zug Tourism keeps streets clean, Sunstar Hotels tidies up in Liestal BL, and Dolder Hotel AG takes on the litter in the Zurich Adlisberg forest.

**Movement Against Littering**

The national IGSU Clean-Up Day is part of the World Cleanup Day, taking place this year on September 20. Organized since 2013 by IGSU, the Swiss competence center against littering, it mobilizes up to 65,000 volunteers yearly and is supported by the Swiss Federal Office for the Environment BAFU, the Swiss Association of Municipal Infrastructure SVKI, and the Pusch Foundation.

For further information about the national IGSU Clean-Up Day, visit www.clean-up-day.ch.

**Media Contact:**

- IGSU Media Office (D, I, F), 043 500 19 91, medien@igsu.ch
- Nora Steimer, Managing Director IGSU, 076 406 13 86

IGSU
Grubenstrasse 29
8045 Zurich
Tel 043 500 19 99
clean-up-day@igsu.ch
www.clean-up-day.ch

Editor's note: Image rights belong to the respective publisher.