News

The August issue of the Dutch National Geographic paid attention to various projects in which volunteers work together with scientists: citizen science! In Leiden, they joined a clean-up and the Plastic Spotter volunteers were featured in the magazine.

We compiled a report of all the terrace waste collected during clean-ups in the summer of 2020. This report was presented to the alderman Yvonne van Delft by volunteers. Read it online now!

The mouth masks and gloves that are supposed to protect us are actually dangerous for the animals around us. All over the world, on land and in water, animals get entangled or get corona waste in their stomachs, Leiden scientists warn. They are asking for everyone's help to map out the consequences.

With the winter weather, it seems that not only salt, but also plastic has been spread fanatically. Leiden's cycle paths are littered with thousands of bright green plastic straws, broken off from the brushes of snow sweepers. Volunteers from the Plastic Spotter project quickly found more than 3,000 such straws. "I just kept picking them up," says the volunteer.

Friday, December 11, Vroege Vogels viewers were able to enjoy beautiful Leiden. From botanical sidewalk chalking to trash in the canal. Presenter Menno Bentveld visited the litter nests of coots and presenter Willemijn Veenhoven joined a canal clean-up.