#ARCTIC. #SIBERIA. THIS IS TAIMYR. From August 26 to September 4, the Arctic Cup of Cleanliness tournament for the collecting and sorting of garbage is being held in the Russian Arctic. It’s brought together environmental activists from nine regions in the Clean Games format.
Teams from Karelia, Murmansk and Arhangelsk regions, Komi Republic, Nenets, Yamalo-Nenets and Chukotka autonomous districts, Yakutia and Taimyr compete for the cup.
To take part in the competition, one should register for the game on the cleangames.org website or follow the group’s announcements on VKontakte.
A year ago, residents from 13 cities participated in the first large-scale championship in the North. In total, 18 tons of garbage was collected, 66 percent of which – separately.
The volunteers’ activities were supported by the Russian Federation president’s special representative for environmental protection, ecology and transport Sergey Ivanov:
“The Far East and the Arctic are two regions where the traces of ill-conceived human economic activity look most unnatural against the unique natural landscapes backdrop. I would say more – the territories are huge, the climate is harsh, places are hard to reach, and the damage has been accumulating for decades. In order to carry out a general cleaning, the state will need some time, which can be reduced by various volunteer initiatives and volunteer projects, including those offered by the close-knit Clean Games team”.
The project was supported by the Presidential Grants Fund, the VKontakte network, the Federal Agency for Youth Affairs, the Russian Ministry of Natural Resources, the Russian Ministry for the Development of the Far East and the Arctic, PhosAgro, Severstal, Segezha Group, regional authorities and public organizations.
Clean Games is team competitions for cleaning up natural areas. Participants compete in garbage collecting and sorting and win prizes. The event is attended by 30 to 1500 people.
In 2018, Clean Games became the winner of the Russian Geographical Society award in the Best Environmental Project nomination.
Earlier, with the Nornickel’s support, the Clean Arctic federal project partner, activists collected more than 200 tons of garbage, and under the Clean Norilsk program, an abandoned plant is now being dismantled in the city.
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Text: Denis Kozhevnikov, Photo: author
