During the summer months, Helsinki hosts a range of events from street parties to festivals.
Empty bottles, food wrappers, and newspapers can end up being left behind when the party's over. If the event has an official organiser, they must clean up. However, if there is no official organiser, the responsibility is shared by all of the attendees to take their rubbish with them. Unfortunately, that doesn't always happen.
According to Jukka Puttonen, an Environmental Inspector with the City of Helsinki, it's virtually impossible to find out who was responsible and the area's owner -- often the city -- ends up having to take care of clean up.
Contrary to popular belief, the size of a festival or gathering doesn't automatically mean more garbage. The biggest factor affecting tidiness is the quality of the event, and whether people not attending the concert or event hang out adjacent to the official venue area.
The Weekend Festival, which takes place in Helsinki, August 5th and 6th, is very particular about keeping it neat.
Tomi Tario, Production Manager of the Weekend Festival, says "people are usually pretty good about putting recyclables in the right bin, especially if there are refunds for plastic bottles available, for example."
Saturday's Beer Floating Festival in Vantaa featured a range of rubber boats and floats on the river. It's up to the participants to take their own garbage -- and floats -- with them. Although not everyone does, the situation has improved over the years.
Meanwhile, the City of Helsinki says that there has not been an increase in littering surrounding big festival events and they reportedly receive few garbage-related festival complaints.
