Ian Kierman was born in Sydney, Australia, and 1 near the sea. For more than 40 years, he raced in international sailing competitions.
In 1987, Kierman was competing in an aroundtheworld race when he began to 2 the huge amount of rubbish in the world's oceans. 3 he returned to Australia, he decided to do something about it.
He organized a community company called "Clean Up Sydney Harbour". On Sunday, January 8, 1989, more than 40, 000 volunteers came out to 4 away rubbish. The next year, Kierman made the cleanup a national event. It was a huge 5.Across Australia, about 300,000 people spent the day improving their local 6.
Since then, "Clean Up Australia" has got 7 every year. In 2002, for example, 800, 000 people cleaned up almost 15, 000 tons of rubbish from Australia's beaches, parks and streets.
Kierman was 8 with the success of his project. In 2003, he started an even bigger program. With the help of the United Nations Environment Program, he introduced "Clean Up the World", an international program that supports communities around the world in 9 and protecting the environment. "Clean Up the World" has grown 10 and his wonderful idea has now spread from one city to the whole world.