Ecuador volunteers remove tons of trash from waterways
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More than 7,500 people in Ecuador cleaned beaches, rivers, and streams on September 19th, collecting nearly 26 tons of waste.
Families, students, and organizations joined the National Campaign for Cleaning Beaches and Water Bodies 2026, working across the country’s coastal, highland, Amazonian, and insular regions. Participants not only removed trash but also sorted, recorded, and weighed it to determine the types of materials polluting these spaces.
The main event took place at La Chocolatera-Playa La Lobería, a protected area in Santa Elena, where the Minister of Environment and Energy, Juan Carlos Blum, praised the public’s commitment to conservation. Blum stated that the event showed how concern for the environment can lead to practical action. This national campaign began in Ecuador in 2010 and expanded in 2015 to include cleanups of rivers, lagoons, and other waterways.
Over the past 16 years, the initiative has engaged over 293,000 volunteers who have cleaned 7,150 kilometers of waterways and removed 1,146,533 kilograms of waste throughout the country.
