Every kilo counts! How we measured our impact in 2021

Did you know that in 2021 alone Trash Hero organised 2,801 cleanups? That is almost 8 cleanups on every single day of the year! We have also welcomed 49,426 volunteers on board, including 11,531 under the age of 16. We collected a whopping 284,606 kg of trash, an average of 102 kg per cleanup. With our Bottles & Bags programme, we were able to distribute 1,401 bottles and 2,185 bags, equating to saving 797,525 single-use plastic bottles* and 511,365 plastic bags*. And 2,000 new Trash Hero kids books were printed, in 2 new languages – Malay and Arabic.

Where do those numbers come from? After every cleanup event, Trash Hero chapters weigh the trash they collected and post their results with photos on social media. The data is also uploaded to a central collection point. To be fully transparent, we make this data publicly available. Anyone can access it live on our website, by clicking on the chapter name: https://trashhero.org/our-network/.

This policy of data collection means that we can also calculate our impact since the very beginning of Trash Hero. Here is what we have achieved together thus far from December 2013 to December 2021:

• We have mobilised 411,837 volunteers including 103,510 kids.
• Together, they completed 14,910 cleanups and 266 brand audits.
• 2,154,134 kg of trash have been collected, including (in the last 6 months) 9,479 single-use masks.
• In total, Trash Hero has distributed 102,470 reusable bottles, thus avoiding 37.4 million single-use plastic bottles* and 1,947 tons of CO2 emissions in the process.
• Meanwhile, our distribution of 27,945 reusable bags has saved 10.2 million plastic equivalents*.
• Our network is now active in 171 locations in 20 countries worldwide.

Of course, numbers are only one side of the story. Let’s not forget the positive energy, momentum and hope that our actions create – these things are immeasurable. We hope we have captured some of this Trash Hero spirit in our impact video above. Click play to see the magic – and thank you to all who have contributed to these achievements over the years! 

*based on an estimated average usage of 1 refill per day for a year (365 days)