Trash Hero started in Thailand in 2013 as a movement with a group of like-minded individuals eager to do something about our local trash crisis. Organising weekly beach clean-ups, we educated volunteers about the effect that waste – and plastic in particular – is having on our environment.

Today, the organisation consists of 100 official chapters in Indonesia, Thailand, Myanmar, Malaysia, Vietnam, Singapore, Switzerland, the Czech Republic, Poland, Serbia, Germany, Kuwait and Cambodia. Our latest collected figures*, up until 31 December 2023, show 515,643 volunteers worldwide have participated in 20,838 cleanups, removing 2,451,362kg of garbage from beaches and cities. Event participants are sensitised to the global waste problem and are encouraged to return home and take a closer look at what they can do in their day-to-day lives.

*Numbers are reported regularly after every cleanup by our chapters and accompanied by a photo report on social media. Live feeds of the data can be seen on our individual chapter pages.

Since the launch of the Bottles & Bags Programme, 108,688 reusable water bottles have been purchased. Every reusable water bottle that is bought represents one plastic water bottle that is not bought and then thrown away. And every time that bottle is refilled, at home or at one of our free refill points, that’s another plastic bottle that doesn’t end up in the trash.

Even assuming a use of once per day for a year (in practice the bottle can be used for life), that’s a huge amount of plastic waste that is not discarded into landfill or the ocean. In Southeast Asia, where bottled water is the norm (it is not safe to drink tap water), this is a clear and long term solution to reduce current plastic consumption.

We are continually raising funds to provide a sustainable bottle stock to our chapters, so they can expand the sales and refill network in their local communities. The chapters provide these bottles at cost to local businesses, reinvesting the proceeds in new stock for the future.

The businesses then sell the bottles for a small profit, while providing free drinking water refills to anyone with a bottle. The customer benefits from the refill network when out and about, and the business benefits from increased custom and exposure through our media channels and refill map.

In this way, consumers and businesses can be aligned in helping to keep our communities, beaches and seas cleaner and healthier. To date, we have 491 participating refill points across SE Asia and Europe.

Want to know how to bring the Bottles & Bags programme to your business or community? It’s easier than you think.  Click here to find out how.