Clean Earth Challenge

A big thank you to our Clean Earth Challenge volunteers for helping us collect 3 million pieces of trash.

Join the movement and take the Clean Earth Challenge! It’s as simple as picking up trash on your morning walk, at your favorite beach or local park. Or you can join with friends, family, neighbors, classmates and co-workers in a community effort to help make our planet a healthier, happier place.

Participants have collected over 3 million pieces of trash and debris that litter our beautiful land, oceans and waterways! This pollution has a devastating effect on the health of our ecosystems, wildlife and the planet.

Help the planet and join millions of others by taking the Clean Earth Challenge.      

Every piece you collect counts!

Take The Challenge

Care about your neighborhood, local beach, park or favorite camping spot? Have you noticed trash and debris that not only affects the outdoor experience but harms the environment? You can help by picking up trash on your daily walk or local outing, or for larger cleanups, get a crew to help! Spread the word to friends, relatives, outdoor enthusiasts or other folks to take the Challenge and make an impact!

Sign-up here

Get Out There

Now it’s time to pick a location and follow simple steps to safely collect trash and debris. You can pick up trash while walking your dog, hanging out at the beach, fishing at your favorite spot or hiking on your local trail. Or you can organize larger-scale cleanups. Every action helps and when you work together, the impact is big!

Collection tips:

1. Accessible Areas

If you’re on a neighborhood walk or cleaning up on a day at the beach, make sure the areas you clean are safe and accessible. Avoid any unsafe circumstances or obstacles.

2. Helpful Materials 

Depending on how much you think you’ll collect, you might bring along a garbage bag, a picker and gloves to protect your hands. Garden gloves work great, or you can use plastic gloves.

3. Avoid Unsafe Items

Do not pick up any trash items that make you feel uncomfortable like glass, needles, sharp objects or PPE like masks.

4. Disposal & Drop Off

Dispose of trash and recyclable items responsibly. If items can’t be thrown in the trash (batteries, paint or any hazardous items), consult local city services for special handling and drop off instructions.

Measure your impact

Track the trash! Please make sure to keep track of your cleanup efforts and measure your personal impact with one of these three steps:

  1. Fill in the online collection form and submit it to us.

  2. Print the collection form and take it to your cleanup. Fill it out and either take a legible photo or scan as a PDF and email it to us at cleanearthchallenge@nwf.org.

  3. Download the Litterati app from the Apple Store or the Google Play Store, use Join Code: CLEANEARTH.