Latvia’s Big Cleanup: A Tradition That Unites the Nation

Don’t be surprised if you visit Latvia in late April and see groups of people gathering in forests, along rivers, or by roadsides, equipped with gloves and large waste bags, carefully collecting litter.

It’s not a one-off event, but a nationwide movement rooted in long-standing traditions of working for the common good. Years before plogging became a global trend, Latvians gave spring cleaning a new spin, launching the Big Cleanup (Lielā Talka). This annual initiative brings people together to make their country cleaner and a better place to live.

Latvians and their talka

Latvians are often described as an introverted nation, yet when a relative, friend, or neighbour calls “nāc talkā!” (come to a talka, come help), they do not hesitate to leave their homes and join forces.

For a historically agrarian nation, the tradition of talka—voluntary assistance offered upon invitation and without remuneration—dates back centuries. It typically brought households together to carry out seasonal tasks such as harvesting crops, preparing firewood, or building homes, followed by a shared meal, singing, and even dancing.

While times have changed, the significance of talka in Latvian culture has remained. Today, it extends far beyond agricultural work, bringing together broader communities for the greater good. Talkas are organized to preserve cultural heritage, support fellow citizens after natural disasters, and, most commonly, to care for and clean the environment.

A special gift for Latvia’s 90th anniversary

The idea of organizing a nationwide talka was born in 2008 in all three Baltic countries. In Latvia, the NGO Pēdas LV, led by Vita Jaunzeme, proposed that cleaner rivers, forests, and urban areas could serve as the best gift Latvian citizens could give their country ahead of its 90th anniversary.

The initiative quickly took shape under the name the Big Cleanup, with the ultimate goal of making Latvia and the wider Baltic region the cleanest places on earth. Estonians were the first to act, organizing a nationwide cleanup in the spring, while Latvians and Lithuanians followed in the fall.

On 13 September, more than 50,000 volunteers (talcinieki) took part in 512 cleanup sites across Latvia, collecting over 260,000 bags of litter. These numbers would not have been reached without the active involvement of municipalities and the efforts of local coordinators who brought communities together.

The success of the first Big Cleanup made one thing clear—it should not be a one-time event. The organizers turned it into an annual tradition aimed at gradually changing public habits and mindset. The next edition took place just seven months later, and since then, the Big Cleanup has been held every April as part of Latvia’s spring cleaning season.

From big to global cleanup

Over the course of 18 years, the Big Cleanup has engaged more than 2.3 million participants, cleaning 25 500 territories across the country. But for the organizers, it is not only the high level of participation that makes all the effort worthwhile. They have observed that many of the regular cleanup sites have become noticeably cleaner over time, with less or no waste to collect the following year.

If the first Big Cleanup focused primarily on removing litter, now, the emphasis has shifted more towards sustainability and environmental improvement. Some local talkas focus on planting trees and flowers in public spaces, while others involve volunteers in building park benches or nesting boxes. The initiative has even taken on a virtual dimension, encouraging people to delete unnecessary data and reduce their digital footprint.

Ten years after the first pan-Baltic clean-up, the movement went global. The first World Cleanup Day was organized in 2018 in Estonia, bringing together 18 million people across 158 countries. By 2025, an estimated 1.68% of the world’s population had taken part in cleanup activities, and September 20 is now recognized by the United Nations as World Cleanup Day. On this day, Latvia continues to set an example by planting Laimes koki, the future heritage trees, at sites across the country.

The Big Cleanup continues to inspire global action and break records, yet for the chief organiser, Vita Jaunzeme, there is still an important goal ahead. As she has noted to LSM once, the aim is to have talka recognized as a social, environmental, and cultural phenomenon of our people and included on the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Lists.

To learn more about the Big Cleanup and get involved, visit the official website: www.talkas.lv