Green Bird is an organisation which promotes cleaning for social purposes - mixing environmental activism with the possibility to meet new people.
The organisation is located all over Japan and slowly spreads towards other countries.
Every first and last Sunday of the month, as well as on a few occasion on Friday evening, people gather in the streets of Kyoto to communally clean.
It is a great possibility to discovering new parts of the city, while developing a sense of belonging. Participants are rewarded with points which get them discount in certain shops or on specific products.
Guillaume participated in one of their evening session. Cleaning at night did, however, not seem to be very efficient.
Furthermore their meeting place was the city hall, an area which is central but not specifically dirty. It would be interesting to change location and to find areas which "need" a clean up. His impression was that their main focus is on connecting people and enhancing awareness towards cleanliness. We would be curious to try it in Berlin....
I am glad to read this wonderful article.