Across Poland, thousands of groups spent September cleaning their local surroundings, turning a familiar annual campaign into a nationwide reminder of how everyday choices affect the environment.
For more than three decades, the Sprzątanie świata – Polska campaign has encouraged people across the country to take responsibility for the places around them. Organised by Fundacja Nasza Ziemia, the campaign began with a straightforward aim: to tackle litter in nature while encouraging people to stop leaving waste behind in the first place.
This year's 33rd edition placed a particular focus on water.
The Wielki Finał 33. Akcji Sprzątanie świata – Polska took place from 18 to 20 September 2026 under the theme “SOS dla Wody! Niech będzie wolna od śmieci”, or “SOS for Water! Let it be free from rubbish”.
The message was reflected in the locations chosen by many of the participating groups. According to more than 1,000 reports submitted to the Foundation, groups cleaned areas around rivers, lakes and ponds, as well as forests, streets and the surroundings of schools and other local institutions.
The campaign's central message is simple: waste left in the natural environment can eventually affect water.
Thousands of groups, one shared effort
A total of 4,097 groups registered to take part in this year's final weekend.
Schools and preschools once again formed the largest group of participants, continuing a long-standing connection between the campaign and environmental education. Other participants included youth cultural centres, libraries, scout groups, community support centres, villages and municipalities.
That variety is an important part of what Sprzątanie świata has become. The campaign is not limited to organised clean-up teams. It gives schools, local communities, volunteer groups and individuals an opportunity to look at their immediate surroundings and consider what they can do to protect them.
Fundacja Nasza Ziemia has been running its two main ecological programmes continuously since 1994: the Sprzątanie świata – Polska campaign and its wider eco-education programme for children, young people and adults.
The aim of both is to connect environmental knowledge with everyday behaviour.
Beyond the clean-up
Picking up rubbish is the most visible part of the campaign, but the Foundation places equal importance on education.
Each year's edition is supported by educational materials designed around its particular theme. For 2026, the focus on water brought additional attention to the importance of protecting a resource that is essential to life and closely connected to the condition of the natural environment around us.
The campaign also received a visual identity designed by graphic artist Andrzej Pągowski, who donated the poster design to Fundacja Nasza Ziemia. Some 3,000 B1-format posters were distributed to schools, preschools and local government offices across Poland.
There is something encouraging in the scale and simplicity of the campaign. People do not need to wait for a major environmental project to make a difference. A riverbank, park, forest edge, roadside or schoolyard can all become a starting point for taking better care of the environment.
After more than 30 years, Sprzątanie świata continues to combine a very practical action with a broader lesson: protecting nature is not only about what happens during one weekend in September, but also about the habits that remain afterwards.
