Organisers of the “Clean up Estonia 2008” campaign to be held on May 3rd hope to enter Estonia in the Guinness Book of World Records.

Today’s Postimees writes that the organizers hope to engage 40,000 people all over Estonia to help clean up the country from illegally dumped or littered waste.

By yesterday, 26,000 people have already registered for the campaign. In average, 1,000 people register themselves a day for the project.

The campaign’s website says: “We have an outrageous plan to do it in ONE day, engaging 40,000 volunteers all over the country.”

To better prepare for the campaign, Estonia digitally mapped 10,000 tons of illegal waste throughout the country.

Since Estonia regained its independence in 1991, illegal dumping of garbage in our forests has been a problem. The issue is not just limited to the garbage itself, but also the mindset of people which leads them to treating our beautiful nature as their private dumpster. Though attitudes have changed somewhat during the last years, a significant number of people continue their habits. The amount of garbage littering our nature remains too great and spread out for the Estonian government to tackle alone.

The organisers say that that through mobilising volunteers into a massive action supported by a broad media campaign, it will be possible to transform Estonia! Through grass-roots action combined with public awareness that will shift peoples’ mindset towards environmentally consciousness, Estonia will become and remain much cleaner country.