The measures aim at reducing littering in various environments, such as events, the urban environment and construction sites. The measures have been divided into themes of communications and influence, urban environment cleanliness, construction, cooperation and engagement, events and littering monitoring.
In order to reduce litter generated by events, the City will, among other things, pilot the prohibition of disposable containers at its own events and organise meetings with event producers to plan litter control.
“Good planning of waste management at events minimises waste volumes and improves sorting and recycling. The City could e.g. support the planning of events, oblige more efficient waste management from organisers and pilot methods at its own events,” says Environmental Inspector Laura Kotilainen.
Environmental education in early childhood education, schools and youth services provides an opportunity to impact the attitudes of children and young people. The City will, among other things, challenge schoolchildren to demonstrate their skills in the sorting challenge and visit daycare centres, schools and youth centres to talk about littering.
Action Plan to tackle littering
The measures to reduce littering are part of the Litter Control Action Plan. The aim of the plan is to gather the best ideas for measures to reduce litter, tackle the growing problem of litter and the damage it causes to the environment and health, raise awareness and knowledge of littering and guide efforts towards reducing litter.
The first action plan period took place in 2022–2025. During the period, we ran the impressive Litter-free Helsinki communications campaign, which involved seagull mascots Tuula and Börje visiting various events to raise awareness of the hazards of littering. The campaign was prominently featured in City of Helsinki communications, e.g. in notices, news articles, campaign videos and outdoor advertising as well as on social media.
The first programme period also included an ideas and innovation competition for students and a litter survey on metro stations and in parks. The survey showed that, in terms of the number of pieces of rubbish, the most littering was due to tobacco products, cigarette buts and snuff pouches, in particular
