Paddle down on The Hague canals for free, while fishing for litter

The initiative will allow people to spend up to two hours on the waterways, making the city a better place

Recently, authorities in The Hague announced the start of a new campaign, which mixes water sports and environmental care. Called ‘Clean, don't we just do it?’ (Schoon, Doen we toch Gewoon), it focuses on promoting community cleaning initiatives by partnering up with a local kiteboard school to create a special offer.

From July to September, people will have the chance to explore the city’s canals on a stand-up paddle board (SUP) for free. However, participants will also have to collect trash along their trip, making The Hague’s waterways better.

Paddleboarding in The Hague

People looking for some fun in the waters around The Hague will have a unique opportunity this summer to SUP through the skyscrapers and tightly packed streets of the city. The offer will be available for free every Thursday, from July to September.

The trip would last around two hours and will start at Kaai 13, while people would be able to experience the city from a totally different perspective while also doing some community work. That last point is why local authorities have decided to back the initiative.

Apart from being a lot of fun, stand-up paddleboarding offers a great opportunity to collect some of the trash floating down the city’s canals. The only prerequisites for participating in the campaign are to have an accompanying adult and a swimming diploma A, as Kiteboarschool.nl will provide the equipment.

The anti-litter campaign

Waste in The Hague’s waterways is a major problem. According to the expert from the municipality, Arthur Hagen, the main reason plastic ends up in the canals is wind blowing trash from the streets. The canal teams in The Hague remove up to 120 tons of waste from the water every year. The waste that is not removed from the water can sink to the bottom and breaks down into microplastics.

With this in mind, ‘Doen we toch Gewoon’ is a campaign created by the municipality of The Hague, aimed at promoting the stories of all the people working to keep the city clean. This, however, is not limited to city employees but includes people who care about their neighbourhoods and opt to better their environment.

Alderman Hilbert Bredemeijer was quoted in a press statement commenting on the occasion: ''As a municipality, we do a lot to tackle the waste problem. Nuisance caused by litter is one of the biggest annoyances and does not fit with the clean and liveable city we want to be.”