Hashtags and viral challenges usually represent funny or iconic moments in pop culture, but there is a new viral movement that has taken off whose goal isn't to entertain - but to help save the planet.

1.3 billion tonnes of household waste is generated per year and only 258 -368 million tons of it ends up in the 50 largest dumpsites, and million tons of it ends up in the ocean, 80% of which comes from mainland waste. Well, the new hashtag #trashtag wants everyone to chip in to chip away at this trash problem. People are challenged to take a before photo of an area that is in need of intense trash clean-up, followed by an after photo of the beautified area.

The hashtag blew up on social media after a reddit user posted a screenshot of someone who had completed the challenge, with the caption: "Here is a new #challenge for all you bored teens. Take a photo of an area that needs some cleaning or maintenance then take a photo after you have done something about it, and post it here.” Scroll down below to see some of the best photos from this environmentally-friendly hashtag and don't forget to upvote your favs!

#1

#trashtag From Vietnam, Youngsters Gather Voluntarily To Clean Up The Environment And To Raise Public Awareness

#trashtag from Vietnam, youngsters gather voluntarily to clean up the environment and to raise public awareness

phattvdev Report

Even when waste is put into dump sites it finds other ways of getting out into the world. As trash decomposes it can release toxins and harmful chemicals that leak into the soil, which then spreads into the water and air. While this can seem life a slow process that might not directly affect you, improper waste management can have deadly consequences in real time. In 1998 and 1999 thousands of people were killed in Bangladesh by flood waters caused by piled up waste in the sewers.

#2

#trashtag Seems To Be Trending. This One's From Nepal 🇳🇵

#trashtag seems to be trending. This one's from Nepal

kelllvvviiinnn Report

#3

#trashtag Manila Bay Has Been Considered One Of The Dirtiest Bays Across The World. After 11 Years, The Supreme Court Finally Issued A Cleanup Order Which Thousands Of Volunteers Joined Last January 27, 2019.

#trashtag Manila Bay has been considered one of the dirtiest bays across the world. After 11 years, the Supreme Court finally issued a cleanup order which thousands of volunteers joined last January 27, 2019.


alex_lavigne Report

Kjorn
Community Member
4 years ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

the weather helped a lot… but if i look at the building over is this even the same place?

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Worldwide, each individual person generates an average of 0.74 kilograms of waste per day, but ranges widely, from 0.11 to 4.54 kilograms. High-income countries generate about 34 percent, or 683 million tonnes, of the world’s waste, even though they only account for 16 percent of the world’s population.

#4

Trashtag-Challenge

Around 500 volunteers helped with the cleanup of 5 million kg of trash from this Mumbai beach.

rcc_pipes Report

Dani
Community Member
4 years ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This is awesome! I love that so many people worked so hard, what a monumental change!

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#5

This Should Be The New Challenge To Make The World A Better Place!

This should be the new challenge to make the world a better place

Baxxo25 Report

Americans love to supersize everything and that includes waste. Even though Americans make up roughly 5% of the world's population, they generate close to 40% of the world's total waste.

#6

Trashtag-Challenge

Just one of the many days cleaning up our local water ways. Featuring Selma Kayak and Large Marge the Garbage Barge

getyerfix Report

#7

3 Women Cleaned Up This Area Together. #trashtag

3 women cleaned up this area together.

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Marc
Community Member
4 years ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Awesome work ladies! Looks so much better.

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While every tip of the planet seems to be filled with waste, the only place where you can almost escape the endless litter is Antartica. It is protected by the Antarctic Treaty, a treaty that prohibits military activity, mineral mining, nuclear explosions and nuclear waste disposal.

#8

Trashtag-Challenge

Took me a few days, but finally finished!!

v0y4ge Report

Marc
Community Member
4 years ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Beautiful result and those cyclists on the first image would probably like it better as well as it is now.

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#9

This Is Just A Work Of An Hour! #trashtag

This is just a work of an hour! #trashtag

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SushiPusheen108
Community Member
4 years ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Even though small, still helping. (Would’ve taken me at least 3 hours)

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Landfills are the designated place where trash belongs and with so much waste being thrown in them things get densely packed in. For trash degradation it goes through an anaerobic process (without air), which creates huge amounts of methane gas - a greenhouse gas with an environmental impact 25x greater than carbon dioxide.

#10

Trashtag-Challenge

The community in my home town in Mexico got together and cleaned up garbage

ger__mann Report

diane a
Community Member
4 years ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Impressive considering it looks a hard to reach area.

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#11

Students from @tetsocollege, Dimapur, accepted the #Trashtag challenge

east.mojo Report

wacky jack 100
Community Member
4 years ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

That grass can now grow that trash must have been there a while

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You might not think of plastic packaging and food to be equals, but food does fall under the waste category. Roughly one-third of food produced in the world for human consumption every year (approximately 1.3 billion tons) is wasted. Each American throws out around 1,2000 pounds of organic garbage that could be composted.

#12

My Aunt Is A 70 Year Old Retired School Teacher And She Has Been Making These Signs And Going Around Cleaning Up Our Neighborhood In The Bronx For A Few Months Now #trashtag

My aunt is a 70 year old retired school teacher and she has been making these signs and going around cleaning up our neighborhood in the Bronx for a few months now #Trashtag

WAYTOOMELO Report

#13

Took The Whole Sunday Morning For 10 People. But Finally Completed The #trashtag Challenge

Took the whole Sunday morning for 10 people. But finally completed the #trashtag challenge

anksla007 Report

Annually, more than 14 billion pounds of garbage is dumped into the world’s ocean (mainly marine life toxic plastic).This has contributed to what is called the Great Pacific Garbage Patch or Pacific trash vortex, a cluster of marine debris in the Pacific Ocean that is twice the size of the U.S.

#15

Trashtag-Challenge

Along the Potomac River south of Washington, DC. We have to clean up the existing mess, but bottle deposit laws and styrofoam bans would prevent most of it. Contact your local, state, and federal representatives and insist on this.

RMcNeil2105 Report

Ever think about what happened to that outdated flip phone of yours? It probably ended up in a landfill along with the over 140 million cell phones thrown into landfills by Americans yearly. Every year, over 50 million tons of electronic waste like cell phones, computers, TVs, etc is created.

#16

People Are Starting To Accept The Challenge

People are starting to accept the challenge

qevoh Report

#17

#trashtag There's An Organisation I Volunteer At And We Basically Do Cleanups Like This In The City. Places That Have Been Forgotten By The Local Government And Make Them Accessible For The Public. Peace.

There's an organisation I volunteer at and we basically do cleanups like this in the city. Places that have been forgotten by the local government and make them accessible for the public

RafayMirza Report

Sage Jay
Community Member
4 years ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Even though it's small, piece by piece, the city is a much cleaner, and better, place.

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#18

#trashtag. Love Seeing This Become A Challenge! Keeping The Beaches Clean Here In Florida!

Love seeing this become a challenge! Keeping the beaches clean here in Florida

Howells2202 Report

Marc
Community Member
4 years ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It is good to see that even the smaller ones are helping. Hopefully it'll rub off on their generation and they will change the way people treat their environment!

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#19

These People Went Above And Beyond #trashtag

These people went above and beyond #trashtag

NoKarmaNoFarma Report

Nikki D
Community Member
4 years ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It's making me sad how many of these are beaches.

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#20

40 Norwegian Folk High School Students From Alta Spent One Week Picking Trash At A Local Beach, Gathering A Total Of 12,400kg! #trashtag

40 Norwegian Folk High School students from Alta spent one week picking trash at a local beach, gathering a total of 12,400kg

Klokkestarter Report

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#21

We’ve Picked Up Tons From Durban Beaches Over The Years #trashtag

We’ve picked up tons from Durban beaches over the years 

kingluc79 Report

Marc
Community Member
4 years ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Must have been hell of work to get it out of all those old trees and branches. Looks much better now!

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#22

Trashtag-Challenge

My girlfriend and I doing our part for #trashtag at the beach the other day

v0y4ge Report

Marc
Community Member
4 years ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Saw the same guy on the list before. He's doing amazing. Thanks mate!

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#23

Trashtag-Challenge

Decided to pick up trash for my birthday and filled up 4 bags

daavidcabrera_ Report

Wendy Melissa
Community Member
4 years ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

What a wonderful gift to everyone. Happy belated birthday.

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#24

Trashtag-Challenge

We did our first “official” beach clean-up in Belize that past December. Before this I’d say we were classified as “beach(trash)combers”, picking up the odd straw and plastic bottle we saw on our walks. However, for Belize, we travelled there with the intention of dedicating time to picking up any trash we came across on our hikes and beach walks. We even created a social media “clean-up crew” by partnering with other travellers to do a clean-up with us at the same time.

wellnesstravelled Report

Marc
Community Member
4 years ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Welcome to paradise. At least now again.

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#26

Trashtag-Challenge

Cleaning up floating debris in Jamaica Bay, NY

getyerfix Report

SirPatTheCat
Community Member
4 years ago (edited) Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Wow brave person, as a bit of a Germaphobe, I don’t know I’d be able to sit in a small boat with damp trash lol.

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#27

Did Our Part Today For #trashtag While Offroading In The Mountains Of California.

Did our part today for #trashtag while offroading in the mountains of California

Flamewell Report

Marc
Community Member
4 years ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Somewhere, in the middle of nowhere and it looks like a dumping ground. Probably someone started it and everyone after it thought it is okay to do the same. Thanks for cleaning up!

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#28

#trashtag

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Marc
Community Member
4 years ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Sadly, that is how it often looks like when people were having a good time at a beach or a park. They just don't care and hope that someone cleans it up for them. Fines for such a behavior should be high in every county. That is the only language those people understand.

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#29

Trashtag-Challenge

Another #trashtag challenge accepted! Help keep our streets clean

to112life Report

Marc
Community Member
4 years ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Looks so much better and I bet everyone around likes it better and will be much happier seeing it, than it was before.

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#30

#trashtag We Collected All This From Our Small Beach At Kites Cove

We collected all this from our small beach at Kites Cove

imgur.com Report

NorthStar
Community Member
4 years ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Keep up & catch those who throw trash !

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