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We recently had the pleasure of sharing a really positive and useful social media challenge for once, the #Trashtag Challenge. Instead of the usual dumb and damaging crap like tide pods and people walking around blindfolded, this challenge encourages people to go out with their gloves and some trash bags, and clean up a polluted area.
Since our previous post a few days ago, the challenge has spread even further and gone truly global. Perhaps this is how we eventually manage to do something about climate change before it's too late? It turns out that we can foster a community spirit, get off our butts and make positive change for our environment, we just need to be challenged to post pics of it on social media. Problem solved!
Scroll down to check out even more inspiring pics of people getting their hands dirty and cleaning up, and let us know what you think in the comments!
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
A Rose Among Thorns 6 years ago
Not only did they pick up the heaps of trash, they planted trees to restore the environment!
Sharon Palmer 6 years ago
Ignore the condescending comments below :) I agree with you, there's been a lot of hard work and time been put into this clean up and regeneration
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Randy Dhuyvetter 6 years ago
I mean, if you need heavy machinery to clear the trash, something, somewhere went terribly wrong...
The #Trashtag challenge offers a refreshing new take on the social media challenge, with many previous iterations simply being a platform for people to show off while doing useless or destructive acts. The one most referenced is the Tidepod challenge, which caused much moral outrage and disbelief over the stupidity of those who took part.
The was also the cinnamon challenge, where people had to film themselves eating a spoon of powdered cinnamon, which can be dangerous if inhaled.
And of course there was the hot water challenge, where kids are encouraged to either drink boiling water through a straw, or pour the boiling water on a friend. One child died as a result of this challenge, and it makes you wonder what kind of people come up with these idiotic ideas that endanger the most vulnerable in our society.
RELATED:
#2
Our kids from the Karavia Children Village rocked the #trashtagchallenge yesterday! What a great action and exemple for the neighborhood
sharron lynn parsons 6 years ago
Wonderful to see the young participate and perhaps an example for the adults !!!
Chris Miilu 6 years ago
Kids will do good stuff and work hard; just give them a chance, snacks and lots of hugs. High school kids will pitch in if asked. We need to ask, and to reward for good community behavior, before kids reach adulthood. Cynicism can be learned; we don't have to encourage it.
#3
One of the biggest #trashtag of 2019. Manila Bay Philippines clean up drive.
Summer Woodsong 6 years ago
I am so impressed. You made the world - and the beach - such a better place!
Jerie Ragsac 6 years ago
Dont be impressed yet, our president is doing his best to clean up the bay, but people still throw garbage in creeks that flow out to the sea and now, another batch of trash is floating in the bay a month after our clean up. My people will NEVER change, that's what kind of people we are. And it's sad I dont have a choice but be one of them. Peenoy
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Wendy Melissa 6 years ago
Wow! Great work. Now there is a beautiful place to sit to watch the sun rise or set. Love it!
sharron lynn parsons 6 years ago
After we see how great it all looks, keep a bag with you to take further trash home !!!
While it may seem new, the viral trend was originally started as the 'Trashtag Project' back in 2015 by UCO, a company that makes outdoor gear. The initial goal of the project was to collect 10,000 pieces of trash by October 2016.
Outdoor website snews reported it at the time, writing "The UCO #TrashTag Project was conceived by UCO People ambassador, Steven Reinhold, during a period of guilt after his receipt from a self-indulgent shopping spree flew out the window.Haunted by this inadvertent littering episode, Reinhold vowed to gather 100 pieces of trash during his road trip – and he did. Returning home from his adventure, Reinhold pitched an expansion of his vision to the UCO team, and the movement began."
#4
Over 8,000 cigarettes picked off the street to be recycled
M O'Connell 6 years ago
If you were curious, the plastic filter material is melted-down and used for low-strength applications like shipping pallets.
Purita Fleschhut 6 years ago
I believe it's about time that cigarettes should be banned. There's nothing good one can draw from it except getting sick and burning their money.
Troy Currie 6 years ago (edited)
I googled it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=164&v=7VxMwKETtUg You can soak cigarette butts in water and then use the nicotine water for watering plants, especially if there is a problem with whiteflies. The nicotine will kill the eggs and larva in the soil.
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Monika Soffronow 6 years ago
I googled it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=164&v=7VxMwKETtUg You can soak cigarette butts in water and then use the nicotine water for watering plants, especially if there is a problem with whiteflies. The nicotine will kill the eggs and larva in the soil.
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Susan Mesick 6 years ago
Sorry-got distracted by the hottie holding the bag. Ermmm I mean well done!
#5
This woman has dedicated the last year and a half of her life to cleaning up polluted coasts, way before #trashtag was a thing. Currently, she is in Central America continuing her efforts. More people like this deserve recognition
sharron lynn parsons 6 years ago
OH YES GLOBAL, that's what is needed, thanks to all, the starters and the followers !!!
#6
We Made A Trash Snowman At A Beach Cleanup In Taiwan!
sharron lynn parsons 6 years ago
We all do our share and make a difference that shows the kind of people we are !!!
#7
Christopher G. 6 years ago (edited)
This looks fake af. Like she threw a small pile of trash in one space that would NO WAY fill up 3 bags!
Summer Woodsong 6 years ago
She's the epitome of an Earth Mother, her actions are a call to action for every inhabitant! Listen!!
While the original #trashtag challenge was a moderate success, used over 20,000 times since 2015, it really took off this month after Arizona man Byron Roman posted photos of Algerian Drici Tani Younes. The first one showed Younes surrounded by garbage and then a second one had him standing in the same place behind nine filled trash bags. Roman suggested this would be the perfect “new challenge for all you bored teens,” and it simply took off from there. Now it's a truly global phenomenon!
#8
This #trashtag is really kicking off here in Nepal. I wish this doesn't die out and become a normal day-to-day thing
okpkpkp 6 years ago
Fantastic job, people! I wish it was a normal day-to-day thing here in my part of the world, northern California, too. We live near two rivers with homeless encampments all around. When the rivers rise or flood, the waters carry all of the trash anywhere the water goes. I'm in a wheelchair now or I'd be right out there, picking trash up, too.
sharron lynn parsons 6 years ago
Not only does it look better, but feels good to accomplish the task at hand that you weren't paid to do !!!
Summer Woodsong 6 years ago
What a difference. These are folks who give to their community. Thanks!
Jo Bebe 6 years ago
It should be a normal part of society and something we all practice
Load More Replies... #9
Living Lands & Waters cleaned up 14,353lbs of trash from the Mississippi River (in Memphis) just yesterday!
NeverBored 6 years ago
It certainly appears that way. And it looks like the person to the immediate left is holding said doll's head. One man's trash... I guess?
Load More Replies... sharron lynn parsons 6 years ago
That is fantastic, way to go everyone a dream coming true !!!
#10
I can't change the world but I totally changed mine
#11
Okeanos Foundation for the Sea doing our part for #trashtag
sharron lynn parsons 6 years ago
Our oceans and seas need our help, perhaps ongoing for a time !!!
#12
The #TrashTag Challenge is an excellent reminder of how cleanliness can enable communities and the environment to Rise.
Watch how Mahindra employees came together for a cleaner country here
meow point1 6 years ago
But people are cleaning it up, so now it's happy.
Load More Replies... Carol Roeder 6 years ago
If we would dispose of our trash properly we wouldn't need others to pick up after us! We are our own worse enemies!
Summer Woodsong 6 years ago
The seas of the world may be filled with discards, but folks with vision can make such a difference. Thanks to you all!
#13
before & after
#trashtag challenge is one of the social media hashtags worth time and effort.
It urges people to pick a place filled with litter, clean it up, and post before and after pictures.
Volunteers have made beaches, parks and roads trash-free while raising awareness of the quantity of plastic litter we produce. Here is mine - Manchester's Mirabel Street. During strong winds and after events at Manchester's Arena our little corner gets a full blast of litter droped by passing by people.
I hope in no time we will transform Mirabel Street into the cleanest street in Manchester
Summer Woodsong 6 years ago
You are awesome. Thanks for thinking and doing - you made such a difference.
sharron lynn parsons 6 years ago
How long will it stay clean if people constantly drop their garbage ???
#14
Everyday hundreds of youth are cleaning up the country. This #trashtag challenge if continued in great magnitude can really help solve hundreds of environmental problems. This picture is from the students of highschool named KMC from Kathmandu, Nepal.
#15
Make play ground a better place!
BeenElle 6 years ago
What kind of pig litters in a playground?! Shame on them and kudos to these guys for making it a better place indeed.
earringnut 6 years ago
This is literally how kids learn to either be a part of the problem or part of the solution.
Load More Replies... sharron lynn parsons 6 years ago
If the parents bring little children, does that say they are the ones to litter ???
#16
#18
I wanted to give back to the Filipino community who has been so kind to me; I spent 6 hours at a “local’s” beach and cleaned it up a bit. I know it’s not a lot, but It’s a small way of saying “thank you.” #trashtag
Carol Roeder 6 years ago
If everyone made such an effort our whole world would be a clean place to live in!
Iva Kazalova 6 years ago
If everyone did their bit like you we would have a better cleaner happier healthier planet, thank you lady, your thanks means a lot!
#19
Zyereri Nkromah 6 years ago
Looks like they just pushed it all to the huge piles of trash in the background....
Troy Currie 6 years ago
The piles are rocks and were there before cleaning started. Probably used heavy equipment to pick up the trash quickly.
Load More Replies... #20
One boombox, one dog bed and nine trash bags later and the woods next to my apartment building look a hundred times better. the top photos are the view from my kitchen window and now I no longer have to look at trash!
Jo Bebe 6 years ago
I use to clean up trash on my 1.5 mile walk home from work when I was younger. I use to have bags and bags... also would find really interesting things by the bridge where people dump things. I wish everyone lived as though #trashtage was just a way of life, it would be so much better.
Jo Bebe 6 years ago
Of course no one ever knew I did it, we didn't use social media for everything in those years
Load More Replies... Summer Woodsong 6 years ago
It's got to be a good feeling, and a great view! Thanks for all your effort!!
#21
I heard #trashtag is getting popular. Kiev, Ukraine
Letitia Hedding 6 years ago
I can't believe people litter so much!!! good job everyone who cleans it up!!!!!
#22
Tried to do something better then nothing
Neal Evans 6 years ago
every piece of litter picked up and put in the bin is a great effort, well done guys
#23
Hope more environment conscious people join this challenge for better tomorrow
Summer Woodsong 6 years ago
Your example will change the way everyone looks making a change - you are heroes!
Koulmig Le Feuvre 6 years ago
Can I just ask? Where do you guys put all the rubbish after ? Really wanna do that too next time I am on a walk but I wanna do if you have any tips on what to do with the rubbish after 😊
Willow 6 years ago
Look through it first and separate trash, recycling, and compost. Trash should go to your nearest dumpster, I guess. Recycling can be used or donated. And for compost used or donated as well.
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sharron lynn parsons 6 years ago
To join the challenge, change the bad habits, or garbage police !!!
#24
Cleaning up homeless camps! #trashtag 260 kgs, only took about an hour!
Marie Watkins Crocker 6 years ago
This is not cleaning up the environment, this is deliberately messing with someone's home, basically. Clean up the garbage, leave the tent alone, ffs.
Agatha Mercieca 6 years ago (edited)
How cruel, to delight in the dismantling of homeless peoples' possessions and throwing them away. His grin and posing is just awful. By all means, clean up the environment. But don't do it at the expense of those who have no option but to sleep rough. Disposing of possessions and continued dispossesion, is what keeps people in a cycle of poverty and homelessness
Kelly Driscoll 6 years ago
For all the people denouncing his attempts to help clean up, I recommend you check out one of your local homeless camps and see how respectful they are about where they’re camping. Also, since you’re so concerned, consider allowing them to camp out in your backyard, or even your living room and see how well that works out.
devon 6 years ago
If you have such a problem with them, maybe you should do something to help.
Load More Replies... Kelly Driscoll 6 years ago
Lucky him, unlike our homeless camps locally, his didn’t seem to contain any 5 gallon buckets of human waste.
Malcontent 6 years ago
Dear morons- this was an abandoned homeless camp, not somewhere someone was living- stop being so stupid ffs.
Laura Rudgers 6 years ago (edited)
I was going to say the same thing!! In our corner of the world, a lot of homeless people camp along one of our urban rivers - when the river floods, the people don't always have enough time to get everything out, and the debris gets caught in the trees and brush and whatnot. That has to be cleared out by someone!
Load More Replies... sharron lynn parsons 6 years ago
Yes, I am sure homeless camps must be quite bad, are you perhaps the first to think of it !!!
#25
We got inspired by all the other trashtag posts. Cleaned up a 3 mile section on our local trail
Summer Woodsong 6 years ago
Three miles is a lot of territory - what a gift to your neighborhood!
Chris Miilu 6 years ago
A stretch trash bag; Home Depot and Lowes might have them. Maybe your local hardware store.
Load More Replies... #26
The KU Canterbury house decided to spend our spring break picking up trash on the streets of St. Louis!
Christopher G. 6 years ago
Good work, though you could do without the BS poster in the window. ALL LIVES MATTER!
#27
A Rose Among Thorns 6 years ago
What an amazing change! I wonder where all those shoes came from.
M O'Connell 6 years ago
That dog raises my suspicions, perhaps he has a shoe fetish.
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Monika Soffronow 6 years ago
One of those days these shoes are gonna walk all over youuuuu. Start picking!
Summer Woodsong 6 years ago
It's so different. Your vision and action made all that happen. Thanks!
meow point1 6 years ago (edited)
Why write with them? Edit: Just curious, no need to downvote.
#28
Summer Woodsong 6 years ago
What a difference! Thanks for taking the time to make a difference!
#29
Before and after. Makeup and clothes dumped near Moston Brook, now cleaned up
M O'Connell 6 years ago
Probably the non-monetary contents of a stolen purse.
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The Suz 81 6 years ago
Does anyone else think this is kind of weird? Why is there all this makeup? Crime scene? LOL
#30
A pile of bricks by this path behind my local Walmart always bothered me. A couple years ago I got bored and made it less sh**ty. #Trashtag proves we can make the world a more beautiful place
Summer Woodsong 6 years ago
It's so much better, that was a lot of work! Thanks for what you do!
Susan Mesick 6 years ago
Thank you Summer Woodsong for making an encouraging remark on EVERY photo <3
Load More Replies... Chris Miilu 6 years ago
What about the rich Wal-Mart family put some money into cleaning up the local surroundings. Put out trash receptacles and empty them into dumpsters, with lock down lids. The take the bagged trash to a dump.
Samhhain Cat 6 years ago
Can we challenge people to STOP LITTERING in the first place? I grew up in a national park and you could get fined $1000 for dropping something as small as a gum wrapper or an apple core (even though you think they are "organic", it's bad for the ecosystem). Just do that everywhere and enforce it. Nobody will litter anymore.
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What do you think ?
HoffLensMetalHedLovesAnimalsUK 6 years ago (edited)
Horrible mess we make, i live near a coastal town and quite often we will take the dogs for a long walk along the coast and take some bags with us and pick up anything we see, the amount you can bag up in a 60 minute walk is so scary, we regularly find old crisp packets from the 60's and 70's that haven't even faded yet, it's abhorrent.
okpkpkp 6 years ago
The water brings in most of the trash along the rivers I live near, granted, where a lot of homeless encampments are, so maybe the coast too?
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Wanderlust 6 years ago
Virginia has the biggest trashiest roadsides. Just hope everyone else is doing it for the trend. Would be nice to notice there's no trash on the freeways
Mewton’s Third Paw 6 years ago
River banks and parks seem like a good place to clean up. I dunno if I would trust the safety of cleaning up the side of 95.
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Marnee DeRider 6 years ago
From the intro: "Perhaps this is how we eventually manage to do something about climate change before it's too late?" No, individual efforts would be a tiny drop in the bucket. It is major infrastructure change that needs to happen. Fixing it will require government action. Don't perpetuate the myth that "personal responsibility" will solve anything. How would personal actions change this fact?: "Carbon dioxide emissions and climate change. The cement industry is one of two largest producers of carbon dioxide (CO2), creating up to 5% of worldwide man-made emissions of this gas, of which 50% is from the chemical process and 40% from burning fuel."
Koulmig Le Feuvre 6 years ago
Well done everyone for the super job 😊 I just wish people would completely stop throwing rubbish on the ground !
Marnee DeRider 6 years ago
Went down to Costa Rica in 2005 and it was the cleanest place I've ever seen. And they didn't even have garbage removal in most places. The only place I saw with any trash were the super touristy places. It's cultural. In N Mpls, I would walk up and down my block and could pick up half a bag of garbage on any given day (1 1/2 blocks): dirty diapers, hypodermic needles, dirty underwear, and mainly fast food bags.
Koulmig Le Feuvre 6 years ago
Me too! It really makes me smile to see people caring for our beautiful planet 😊
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released kraken 6 years ago
This reminds me of a radio show i heard once. There were two people who would go out somewhere in florida on kayaks and would pick up trash. Apparently, one day, the husband (as they were a couple) was out and hadn't come back in a while. When he got back to wherever they were living, he said something along the lines of: "i need a bigger canoe." His craft was so loaded down with trash he could barely paddle back. And the worst part is: there was still more. So these people organised a group to go out on the water and pick up trash. They had collected somewhere in the range of 10,000 pounds of trash over the span of just two years.
HoffLensMetalHedLovesAnimalsUK 6 years ago (edited)
Horrible mess we make, i live near a coastal town and quite often we will take the dogs for a long walk along the coast and take some bags with us and pick up anything we see, the amount you can bag up in a 60 minute walk is so scary, we regularly find old crisp packets from the 60's and 70's that haven't even faded yet, it's abhorrent.
okpkpkp 6 years ago
The water brings in most of the trash along the rivers I live near, granted, where a lot of homeless encampments are, so maybe the coast too?
Load More Replies... Wanderlust 6 years ago
Virginia has the biggest trashiest roadsides. Just hope everyone else is doing it for the trend. Would be nice to notice there's no trash on the freeways
Mewton’s Third Paw 6 years ago
River banks and parks seem like a good place to clean up. I dunno if I would trust the safety of cleaning up the side of 95.
Load More Replies... Marnee DeRider 6 years ago
From the intro: "Perhaps this is how we eventually manage to do something about climate change before it's too late?" No, individual efforts would be a tiny drop in the bucket. It is major infrastructure change that needs to happen. Fixing it will require government action. Don't perpetuate the myth that "personal responsibility" will solve anything. How would personal actions change this fact?: "Carbon dioxide emissions and climate change. The cement industry is one of two largest producers of carbon dioxide (CO2), creating up to 5% of worldwide man-made emissions of this gas, of which 50% is from the chemical process and 40% from burning fuel."
Koulmig Le Feuvre 6 years ago
Well done everyone for the super job 😊 I just wish people would completely stop throwing rubbish on the ground !
Marnee DeRider 6 years ago
Went down to Costa Rica in 2005 and it was the cleanest place I've ever seen. And they didn't even have garbage removal in most places. The only place I saw with any trash were the super touristy places. It's cultural. In N Mpls, I would walk up and down my block and could pick up half a bag of garbage on any given day (1 1/2 blocks): dirty diapers, hypodermic needles, dirty underwear, and mainly fast food bags.
Koulmig Le Feuvre 6 years ago
Me too! It really makes me smile to see people caring for our beautiful planet 😊
Load More Replies... released kraken 6 years ago
This reminds me of a radio show i heard once. There were two people who would go out somewhere in florida on kayaks and would pick up trash. Apparently, one day, the husband (as they were a couple) was out and hadn't come back in a while. When he got back to wherever they were living, he said something along the lines of: "i need a bigger canoe." His craft was so loaded down with trash he could barely paddle back. And the worst part is: there was still more. So these people organised a group to go out on the water and pick up trash. They had collected somewhere in the range of 10,000 pounds of trash over the span of just two years.
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