What day is it?

On June 17, the world community celebrates World scavenger day. This professional holiday may not seem important, since the scavenger profession is not valued in the world. Therefore, the purpose of this date is to draw public attention to the enormous efforts of women and men who keep our cities and villages clean.

Scavengers include professionals who collect trash, recyclables, and waste from our homes and neighborhoods. Whether they are sanitation or waste management professionals, we appreciate their thorough and tireless work.

Waste management goes far beyond ordinary garbage collection. Cleaning up our homes, neighborhoods, and entire cities from trash involves a variety of services and programs designed to protect our environment from pollution and reduce the impact of trash on the environment. This holiday is also celebrated by leading industry experts who work in the field of waste disposal and recycling, and make an extraordinary contribution to the development of our planet.

How did the idea to celebrate World Scavenger Day come about?

The initiator of implementation World scavenger day is John D. Arwood, owner of a specialized waste processing company. He started his business in 1997, and then started spreading information about his activities on the Internet.

Arwood cares about every person in society. During the few years of his company’s existence, he realized that the world does not appreciate the profession of people who deal with waste disposal. This inspired him in 2011 to create and fully fund the first Scavenger’s Day. For Arwood, it is very important that society recognizes the tireless work of those people who dedicate their days to cleaning the environment from garbage.

This holiday is often also called Week of workers in the field of waste collection and processing. After all, the industry is much broader and, in addition to garbage collection, includes activities related to sanitation and land use. There is also an entire industry dedicated to providing recycling services.

All over the world, many thousands of men and women are involved in recycling. Therefore, the focus of Scavenger Day has changed over time. In recent years, attention to the Day of the Scavenger has grown tremendously. Public organizations and communities from all over the world take an active part in the celebrations. The level of involvement turned out to be so high that in the future, a significant increase in interest in the holiday is expected from non-profit organizations, enterprises working in the fields of waste processing, environmental protection, etc.

Arwood also draws attention to “Space Debris” and tries to figure out how to deal with the growing problem of debris orbiting the Earth.

Interesting facts about scavengers and waste recycling

• The scavenger profession has a long history. So, the first large landfill appeared in ancient Greece, near Athens in 400 BC.
• Every year in the USA, 250 million tons of municipal waste are produced, this list includes garbage from commercial, domestic and industrial activities.
• The USA ranks first in the amount of garbage. According to a study, every American “produces” 7 pounds (3 kg) of trash every day. The United States produces about 30% of the world’s waste. Almost more than 50% of products are used by Americans only once and then thrown away as waste. 50% of plastic was thrown away and never recycled.
• In the US, scavengers not only collect garbage, they are responsible for sorting it. According to reports for 2010, about 139,900 people worked as scavengers and 0.033% sustained serious injuries related to their work.
• Usually we do not think about how much damage we cause to the environment. For example, the decomposition time of butts is 15 years, during this period it harms the environment. And it takes more than 1,000,000 years to decompose a glass jar.
• On the territory of our country there are more than 6,000 landfills that function quite officially. However, there are many unauthorized waste dumps. According to representatives of the Ministry of Nature, there are about 30,000 of them. Statistics show that less than 5% of garbage in our country is sorted and processed, and other waste is taken to landfills.
• Despite this, there are 15 factories specializing in the processing of glass products, 15 factories for the recycling and processing of paper and cardboard, 16 industrial units processing scrap ferrous and non-ferrous metals, and 19 factories engaged in the recycling of plastic bottles. In general, the capacity of these plants is used only for 10%, which allows processing much more garbage.

How to celebrate World Scavenger Day?

World scavenger day is a holiday of all people who ensure safety for us and the environment. Traditionally, recycling and waste management professionals receive gifts and appreciation for their work. However, what can you do as a private person during the celebration of this holiday?

First, you can show that you care about the welfare of local scavengers. Members of the public often go about their business, oblivious to the difficulties and dangers faced by waste disposal workers. But the fact is that many work long hours on public streets and highways, constantly risking their lives and health.

Exactly World scavenger day makes us think about how we take care of the representatives of this profession in particular and our environment in general. You can start separating waste and thereby make the work of waste disposal workers easier.

Sometimes it’s best to just show gratitude. You can even go to the waste disposal specialist in person and tell them that you appreciate the work they do. It might be the only thank you he gets all year.

When will we celebrate World Scavenger’s Day??