Municipal employees voluntarily cleaned up a small forest in Slezská Ostrava
As part of the nationwide "Let's Clean up Czechia" campaign, a team from the Ostrava City Hall started the clean-up of a part of Slezská Ostrava, in a small forest between Hladnovská and Heřmanická streets on the second day of April.
The municipal team after clean-up "their" section. Photo: MMO
Ostrava regularly participates in this clean-up initiative and organizes clean-ups involving both employees and the public. However, this year marked the first time when employees conducted this voluntary activity during a regular work week. The goal was to allow all employees of the municipality to participate in the clean-up if their work duties permitted.
The event was attended by the Mayor of Ostrava, Jan Dohnal, and the Deputy Mayor for the Environment, Aleš Boháč, along with the city employees.
"This year, we tried something different at the beginning of the year and organized the clean-up in the middle of the week instead at the weekend. I was pleased to see how many of my colleagues willingly and eagerly participated; we're doing quite well together," commented Mayor Jan Dohnal during the clean-up.
"It's kind of calming in a peculiar way, how quickly and efficiently the landscape transforms from almost a black dump back to its natural beauty. We will certainly continue this clean-up tradition in the future," said Deputy Mayor Aleš Boháč.
This year, over fifty employees participated, more than a hundred large garbage bags were distributed, and a large container was filled with various waste. A total of 2.26 tons of waste was collected and removed from the site. This year, the most common items found in the bags were cables, PET bottles, small debris, and tires. However, some unexpected items were also discovered, such as an old computer monitor or a large suitcase on wheels.