Leslie Finlay | Trash Hero World

Trash Heroes’ Work Increases Environmental Health

by Leslie Finlay on 24/09/2017 No comments

September 26 is World Environmental Health Day.

In March, Margaret Chan, Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO), said that air pollution is a “major public health issue of our generation,” and that poor air quality affects more than 80% of the world’s population.

While industrial carbon outputs, motor vehicle exhaust and coal emissions account for a large portion of poor air quality, the practice of burning plastic waste is incredibly dangerous to both environmental and human health. Estimates indicate that about 40 percent of waste globally is dealt with by burning. Historically, small and rural communities burn biodegradable waste, but the introduction of nonrenewable items like plastic have added a new danger.

The toxins released by burning waste have been linked to lung and neurological diseases, as well as heart attacks and some cancers.

Trash Hero Amed has been a leader in community waste management. Last year, they collaborated with a local non-profit, Peduli Alam, and developed a collection system for non-organic waste, provided to the community free of charge. Peduli Alam has built and installed more than 200 public rubbish bins and another 350 individual bins across 700 families, local restaurants and schools. The waste is collected almost daily and transported by Peduli Alam to a regional sorting station and a landfill site. Trash Hero World supported Peduli Alam to finance a new truck so they can continue the waste removal service for the Amed community.

Is trash burning a problem in your community? Contact us so we can help collaborate to work toward a solution.

Estimates indicate that about 40 percent of waste globally is dealt with by burning.

Trash Heroes Join the International Coastal Cleanup

by Leslie Finlay on 18/09/2017 2 comments

This weekend was the International Coastal Cleanup, a global event organized by the Ocean Conservancy, and millions of volunteers worldwide took to the oceans and coastlines to remove waste.

According to the Ocean Conservancy, plastic has been found in 62% of all sea birds and 100% of sea turtle species. The organization records what types of trash are removed from the oceans to help guide awareness.

The top items collected globally are:

Source: The Ocean Conservancy

This year volunteers also found four drones, 56 toilets, eight microwaves, five selfie-sticks, and a piano.

Trash Heroes around the world were out this weekend, as they are every week, making big changes in their communities.

Trash Heroes in Borneo joining the International Coastal Cleanup on a camping cleanup trip

Trash Hero Kertalangu joined a cleanup event called AKSOMA at Biaung Beach in Indonesia removing more than 100kg of trash with community leaders, students of all ages, and the Indonesian National Army.
Trash Hero Bangkok hauled out their paddleboards to clean Khlong Bang Phli (Taco Lake,) removing 80 kilograms.
Trash Hero Borneo joined the International Coastal Cleanup for a two-day camping trip as part of the largest coastal clean up in Sabah. Volunteers gathered along Simpang Mengayau collecting waste along beaches spanning 8 villages.

Paddleboard cleanups in Bangkok.

Did your community participate in the International Coastal Cleanup? Let us know! We want to hear your stories and successes!

47,183 Volunteers Strong

by Leslie Finlay on 11/09/2017 No comments

This year, the Trash Hero family has swelled to an amazing 42 chapters across nine countries – Thailand, Indonesia, Czech Republic, Switzerland, Singapore, Malaysia, Myanmar, China, and the USA. More than 47,000 volunteers have removed 345,203 kilograms of trash from our oceans, waterways, roads, beaches and communities, and that number grows every single day through the efforts of heroes like you. Nearly 10,000 of these volunteers were children.

New chapters like Trash Hero Kertalangu, started just two months ago, are gaining momentum every week. More than 1,700 heroes have already supported the new chapter. Trash Hero Thailand’s bottle project distributed more than 3

3,000 stainless steel reusable water bottles to curb single-use plastic usage. More than 181 businesses joined in to supply free water refills, the whole effort saving an estimated 12 million plastic bottles from entering the ecosystem. The project is set to launch across other chapters this year!

Come join the movement with us. If there is no chapter yet in your area, you can organize your own team to clean, educate and change your community. We provide the resources and guidance, you provide your heroism. To make a difference in your community and join our global family, contact us at info@trashhero.org to take the first step toward a cleaner future.

It Only Takes One Hero to Make an Impact – From Bali Beaches & Beyond

by Leslie Finlay on 29/08/2017 No comments

Esther Thomet recently attended the National Geographic Student Expedition, a student travel program run through various locations around the world that aims to inspire and educate middle school and high school students.

While in Tulamben in Northeastern Bali, a representative from Trash Hero introduced the student group to the organization before they took to the beaches to help clean alongside local Balinese children. During the presentation, Esther said that the group was shown video of a sea turtle with a straw up its nose.

“I cried because it was devastating to watch the harmful human influence on nature,” she said. “I knew then that I wanted to help.”

While she participated locally, the spirit of Trash Hero instilled within Esther long after her trip. She said that the strongest part of Trash Hero’s message is not only that they actively clean and conserve, but they are teaching others in the process.

“From a single beach cleanup and small lesson I learned what kinds of plastics to look out for and where they are commonly hidden, how to help prevent the use of plastics in everyday activities, and what affects we will have on the ocean, and world in general, if we continue to use plastic at this rate,” she said.

Education of this sort is lasting and far-reaching, and inspires others, like Esther, that they can make a difference.

“I wanted to go home and fundraise because I was very inspired by the thought that someone like me could make an impact,” Esther said. “I wanted to spread Trash Hero’s message to my friends and family.”

Returning home, Esther coordinated donations totaling $500 for Trash Hero World, in the process living up to Trash Hero’s message of education and inspiration, eager to share what she had learned with others and incorporate changes into her everyday life.

“The trip mainly changed the way I view the world,” Esther said. “I am very conscious about how much trash I am producing, how to limit my trash production, and how to make others aware about how they can get involved and help as well.”

Collaboration and togetherness are the clear keys to transformative progress. For other aspiring heroes, Esther believes that by remembering the reasons for why we work for a passion, we can achieve anything.

“I once had a teacher who told me that it doesn’t matter what career or life path I choose, as long as I do so with pride, dedication, and hope for the future,” she said.

“Trash Monsters” at Wonderfruit Festival Dazzle and Inspire

by Leslie Finlay on 23/08/2017 No comments

The three day “Wonderfruit Festival Pattaya” is the biggest music- and arts festival in Thailand with a mission to “encourage, develop and innovate creative solutions for sustainable living and bring together a global community to celebrate them. We use our platform to catalyze creativity and make a meaningful, positive impact.”

Alongside well-known musical acts, workshops, art installations, banquets and presentations are also held in the spirit of this ethos. Topics encourage participation and range from sustainability and the environment to social responsibility.

This year, well-known Thai artist Tom Potisit created a 3-meter long “trash monsters” on behalf of Trash Hero Thailand that came to life for several performances with the help of professional dancers.

The “Little Monsters”, named DukDik and KukKoo, were inspired by deep-deep sea animals such as Anglerfish and extinct shrimp-like animal called the Anomalocarididsx to raise awareness about how the waste we create affects all living organisms – even deep seas creatures. He worked to collaborate between active Trash Hero chapters along the coast of the Gulf of Thailand and the Andaman coast to collect trash from the ocean, including fishing equipment, lighters, toys, sunglasses, and more. His production team carefully assembled DukDik and KukKoo and created a personality for both creatures in order to make them truly come alive at the festival, fully equipped with LED lights to light up the campaign.

The founder of Wonderfruit, Pranitan “Pete” Phornprapha, was originally inspired by environmental projects from his community, but sought to celebrate social awareness in a fun, relevant and contemporary way.

The attitude is put into practice at the festival, as well. On-site water filtration allows festival-goeers to refill reusable water bottles on sale, and all drinks and food are served in biodegradable or reusable containers. A local organization, Thailand Young Farmers, provide locally-grown, organic produce for the banquets, and a portion of each ticket sale is contributed to the Rimba Raya Biodiversity Reserve in Borneo, Malaysia, to offset carbon emissions and make Wonderfruit a carbon neutral event. A collaboration between the festival and Johnnie Walker contributed a portion of drink sales to the planting of more than 1,000 mangrove trees in Myanmar. Several Trash Hero volunteers held presentations during the festival, as well, about their experiences in the field to raise more awareness about waste issues.

12 Million Plastic Bottles Saved… and Counting

by Leslie Finlay on 17/08/2017 No comments

As Trash Hero aims to change the behaviors that lead to unsustainable waste production, we strive to enable individuals and communities with the tools to do so.

Many regions of the world, particularly in Southeast Asia, have experienced a rapid growth of tourism that has left the capacity of local trash management far behind. The “Love Thailand” water bottles are just one tool available to curb unsustainable production of plastic bottles that will never break down fully in our environment. The program has been steadily growing since December 2014, first launched by the communities of Koh Lipe, Koh Lanta and Chaing Mai. Today, 14 locations in Thailand distribute the bottles.

Sold at cost price at cleanups, hotels and restaurants, distributors make a commitment to provide refilling stations where the Trash Hero bottles can be filled without charge. As of the end of July 2017, 33,000 bottles had been sold at 181 participating businesses throughout Thailand. This equates to more than 12 million plastic bottles that were not produced.

The success in Thailand spurred Trash Hero Indonesia’s interest to also supply the reusable bottles. The first order of 2,000 “Love Indonesia” Trash Hero bottles began distribution earlier this year.

Find out where you can get your own Trash Hero reusable bottle or how to become a participating business.

A Lasting Trash Hero Souvenir

by Leslie Finlay on 25/07/2017 No comments

The story below is from Trash Hero Blanka Szecsenyi.

I met Trash Hero in Thailand in 2014. It was a beautiful holiday I took with my boyfriend while living in London. I thought it was just a leisurely activity, a free boat trip to join Trash Hero, but it became much more than that.

I was devastated by the state of an uninhabited island, yet amazed by the motivation of all the people of Trash Hero, to keep cleaning up what they might never be able to stop coming.

When I got back to cold and gray London from the winter sun, it took me a while to adjust to the everydays. Not only that for 3 weeks I was able to live out of a back pack, but also that I spent a day cleaning up rubbish while probably generating more at home in a week than I collected in a day. Hoping of course that my rubbish does reach the recycling factories, but still disgusted by the amount of unnecessary packaging in every shop.

I started to get rid of plastic bags. Those were always my weak point. Of course, it feels good to hold dozens of bags after a shopping spree on Oxford Street, but it feels even better to put all into one bag when I get on the tube. When I get home with all the new stuff (most of them probably not necessary), I generate a bag full of other bags and cut of labels, stickers, etc. Then I keep packing those bags inside each other, keeping them in the cupboard, in case I will need it. When did all this start?

I remember having maybe one nice plastic bag in a year – I kept my piano notes in them for months of classes. The only reason for it was that they were too big for my school bag and I did not want to get them wet on the way. I also remember a classmate from uni – I used to train him as he always skipped classes, but it helped me to prepare for the exams. When he had to take some notes from my place, he refused a plastic bag for it as his father, captain of a ship said he would never want to be seen carrying anything in a plastic bag, it is so not masculine – compared to being a captain.

Feeling energized by Trash Hero event, I skipped using the plastic bags. When we got Ocado home delivery – where the driver takes your old Ocado bags – I just wanted to be so quick unpacking that he would take what he just got me as well. I just did not want to store one more of those monsters. I still had to convince my boyfriend, he would join me when we were together, but when he was shopping on his own, he would still end up bringing them home. Half success I guess?

2 years later we moved home, back to Budapest with my now husband. We spent the first 6 months in-between-homes, renovating and simply not settling properly. I ended up living out of boxes and with bags of bags once more – but not for long. I got my shopping bags again and recycling every single plastic bag I end up with.

I shared this story on the below event (speech is in English, title in Hungarian – to be updated soon) as an exercise for public speaking. I tried to find a topic which I believe is worthy enough to take the time of 80 people and maybe achieve something with my message.

I ended up with dozens of messages now, about how they, who heard my speech stopped using plastic bags now. I don’t even dare to imagine how many of those there might be who did not tell me their related actions.
You see, every little counts. I was just one city girl on holiday looking for a cheap trip – ended up motivating dozens to stop using plastic bags.

http://speakacademy.hu/speaker/szechenyi-blanka-speak-academy-galaest-2017-junius-21-marriott/

Local Business Support on Koh Phangan

by Leslie Finlay on 11/07/2017 No comments

Trash Hero Koh Phangan in Thailand has been actively organizing beach, reef and jungle cleanups since its inception, and has successfully arranged partnerships and cooperative projects with other local organizations as well. Now local businesses are throwing in their support as well.

Local businesses so often are at the forefront of our regional success stories, and their impact can have incredible effects on behavior change toward waste. Chad and Colleen, owners of Veranda Phangan, joined Trash Hero Koh Phangan to increase awareness to an ever-growing population of tourists. Within just 30 days, their yoga center distributed more than 1,200 free liters of water to its yoga therapy teacher candidates and managed to generate zero plastic through the duration of the course.

It’s steps like these that can lead to an ongoing pattern of awareness and change. Read Chad and Colleen’s story below to see what small changes business owners and individuals alike can make toward spreading awareness of the issues and reducing physical waste and plastic.

To see more news or get involved with Trash Hero on Koh Phangan, check out its Facebook page.

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Great things are happening on Koh Phangan in Thailand!

A movement of potential has dawned.

With more and more people visiting our gorgeous island, more and more trash is accumulating And more people are becoming aware of this challenge. **Progress** The awesome thing about awareness is that is also increases what people ASK for.

We are Chad and Colleen. Owners of Veranda Phangan in Chaloklum Koh Phangan, Thailand. We’ve been coming here for 15 years and finally decided to stay 1 yr ago. Our single concern becoming business owners and permanent residents of Koh Phangan was our impact on the island.

Within the first month we joined Trash hero. We were the 3^rd business on the island to join and were surprised to find we were the 1^st yoga and wellness related business to join.

So…we hopped on the campaign and spent A LOT of time increasing awareness through social media channels and word of mouth supporting the 2 Trash Hero volunteers who were working hard build a cohesive community here.

We ran our specialised trauma-informed yoga therapy teacher training in January and supplied our students with **FREE** Trash Hero bottles. Over the next 30 days during this intensive and professional yoga therapy teacher training we supplied over 1200 litres of FREE drinking water to our students. Amazing to realise ZERO plastic was generated in any way throughout this entire course.

What else does Veranda Phangan do to support sustainable tourism?

We clean our beach front property every day (which is common for all business owners on the island). We also know that tourism is increasing, which is great for Thailand being a tourism-driven economy. If an increase in tourism is going to be sustainable we must be aware of our Entire footprint extending beyond the environment too. For this reason we have developed a sustainable tourism policy.

What do we know for sure?

Small Family Run Businesses Do Make a Difference. Choose to support them on your travels.

What do we hope to see next?

We’re really looking forward to continuing our Trash Hero World and sustainable tourism efforts on Koh Phangan with our upcoming teacher training courses and retreats.

We also really hope people will start ASKING for recyclable bottles, or travelling with their own and making educated choices for the wellbeing of the countries they visit.

If you find yourself on Koh Phangan, stop by for a coconut and water refill. We’d love to meet you.

Safe travels

Chad and Colleen

Verandaphangan.com

#ReduceReUseRecycle #BringYourBottle #Verandaphangan #yogateachertrainingthailand #AmazingThailand

Trash Heroes on Gili Meno

by Leslie Finlay on 27/06/2017 No comments

GILI MENO, INDONESIA: MAY 2017- One Trash Hero was visiting Gili Meno in Lombok, Indonesia, and encountered a cleanup underway.

“If this is an indication of what Trash Hero can do, the world is in good shape.”

The group of volunteers attracted attention from tourists, as well.

“I saw at least a couple of tourists who spontaneously joined in by throwing something in one of the sacks. Later in the evening I met a couple of newly-weds from Britain. They had seen the group – pretty hard to miss! – and thought it was a good way to also meet people. The couple had been on the island all day and hadn’t spoken to anyone else than each other, as people (many couples) seemed mostly in to each other. This would be a good thing to start in the UK, they said.”

The weekly cleanup attracts many locals and their children, as well. Educating children on a waste-free way of life early on is a tremendously important part of Trash Hero’s mission.

“One man on the walk came every week for the clean-up from neighboring island Lombok. And the group of kids did this every Sunday, on their one day off from school.”

Local residents understand the value of up-cycling as well. Adina came across a man who has constructed a garden wall out of 9,000 plastic bottles, all filled with soft plastic of different colors.

“The house owner even wants to make bungalows with this, for tourists to stay in. Garbage turned into a tourist attraction! He looked very pleased when I told him plastic doesn’t break down for 200 years.”

Keep up the great work, heroes of Gili Meno!

Trash Hero at TEDxYangon

by Leslie Finlay on 23/06/2017 No comments

MAY 21, 2017: YANGON, MYANMAR

Trash Hero Myanmar Coordinator Phone Kyaw Moe Myint, who goes by Carl, tells the audience at TEDxYangon about the words that changed his life: “Become a Trash Hero.”

The sailing champion has spent his life on the water, and admits that he hadn’t truly considered the problem of pollution very much until it directly impacted his life – a tendency he criticizes too many of us are guilty of, but understands all the same. Then the waters of his Inya Lake became so overrun with trash that it threatened his beloved sport and livelihood.

Since that day, Carl is a firm believer in Trash Hero’s global movement of mobilizing the hands and hearts of individuals to enable change. In his talk, he champions the power of building awareness and influencing others through small behavioral changes – that together we can solve the global garbage crisis.

His words are dedicated the more than 20,000 heroes out there! Check out his speech below.