Clean Up & Green Up Week

2022

Building on the success of the Clean Up & Green Up Week organized in September 2021, and on the feedback we received from the community in the follow up survey, we promoted a Clean Up & Green Up Week – Home Edition during the week of April 18-22. Taking advantage of the Earth Day - Invest in our planet (April 22) the challenge we proposed to the CCU community was to invest in a more responsible attitude towards consumption.

Through a Spring Swap Shop, the CCU community was encouraged to gather unwanted items from their homes and bring them to the CCU to find new owners. With the continued mission of organizing mindset-changing opportunities, this event aimed to help deconstruct the prejudices against good condition used items. The CCU community represents a safe and trusted space where those not yet comfortable with this practice can find experienced “traders” with whom to share the experience.

Throughout the week, an impressive 818 drop-offs and 416 pick-ups were registered. It was a true community effort with participation from members of Research, Clinic, Administration and Support staff. Regarding the leftover items, books were donated to our in house Book Sharing Initiative on the second floor where CCU members can continue swapping books all year round, and the remaining items were donated to the Centro Social e Paroquial Algueirão | Mem Martins | Mercês.

Thanks to everyone involved who made this initiative a success! And don't forget: Be a (Green) Goat, Not a Sheep!

2021

Inspired by the World Cleanup Day, we teamed up with the CCU Operations Unit to organize the first Annual Champalimaud Research (CR) "Spring" Clean week!

CLEAN UP & GREEN UP: Be a (Green) Goat, Not a Sheep! was the motto for this initiative, divided into four phases:

1. Lab/Workspace Clean-Up (Sept. 20-24);

2. Coastal Clean-Up (Sept. 25);

3. Flea Market (Sept. 27-30);

4. UpCycled Art project (from Oct. 4 onward).

It was very inspiring to see the CR community join forces and take this task to completion! Many rolled up their sleeves to Clean-Up their working spaces. To finish the week on an even greener note, we celebrated the International Coastal Cleanup Day by organizing a local Coastal Clean-Up. Several CR members and their families spent their Saturday afternoon cleaning up the coastal area around the CCU and collected 103kg of trash over a distance of about 2,5km!

Our Flea Market was a success and many of the unused items have now new owners. Someone's "trash" is indeed someone else's "treasure"! Any leftover items will be used in the UpCycled Art project to shape the creativity of some of our in house artists. In due time, we will share the resulting art pieces!

Thanks to everyone involved who made this initiative a success! And don't forget: Be a (Green) Goat, Not a Sheep!