On 8 September 2018, Trash Hero Canggu led a very special cleanup in conjunction with Gangga Surf Community and a neighbourhood school.
With 120 children and 15 adults, they cleaned a section of Yeh Gangga beach on Bali, followed by the release of 50 baby turtles into the ocean.
Rima, our local chapter leader, said “It was just wonderful! Seeing those kids with their energy and spirit made us so happy!”
It was indeed a perfect opportunity for kids to see for themselves the direct benefits of their efforts, as they watched these vulnerable, adorable creatures make their way across the clean sand and into the sea.
G’day from the Australia International Dive Expo at ICC Darling Harbour, Sydney, Australia!
Monica Chin, the co-founder of Trash Hero Borneo, represented Trash Hero World at the annual event for scuba professionals in August, giving a talk introducing our activities worldwide.
With reef conservation high on most divers’ agenda, the issues of marine debris and how to tackle plastic pollution was a popular topic of discussion.
The event garnered more than 60,000 ocean-loving visitors over a four day period, and Monica – an experienced diver herself – was able to network and reach out to many people who showed interest in the Trash Hero movement.
More outreach work in China!
The following month, Monica and Trash Hero Pattani co-founder, Padinya Aree, were on the road again, travelling to Beijing in China for ADEX (Asian Dive Expo) 2018 on 6 – 9 September. Here, the pair also gave conservation talks and took part in a panel discussion on a “Plastic Free Future”.
And of course, they manned the booth and networked with both Chinese and international visitors and exhibitors at the show. Our thanks to the local volunteers in Beijing who came along to support them!
It’s been an extraordinary month for Trash Hero in Thailand.
We were delighted to see the Prime Minister of Thailand, Prayut Chan-ocha, highlight the growing problem of plastic waste within the kingdom on his weekly address to the nation. His second report on the topic, broadcast across all channels on 10 August 2018, outlined the various measures being implemented to tackle the crisis, as well as encouraging all stakeholders to do their part to help.
You can see the full report below:
During this segment (at 08:00), Mr Chan-ocha drew attention to the activities of Trash Hero, whose volunteers have worked tirelessly to bring issues of waste – and the solutions – to the forefront of public awareness over the past four years.
The Prime Minster held Trash Hero up as an example for the country’s youth and for the power of people working together. After presenting our latest waste collection figures to the country, he also asked a pertinent question, saying “these results were achieved by only 100,000 people. If all 60 million citizens would join in, how big would the impact be?”
Trash Hero is honoured by this recognition and support for our work and approach.
Shortly after the broadcast, we had the opportunity to meet both the Prime Minister and the Deputy Education Minister of Thailand in person at events in Chumphon Province.
On 20 August 2018, Clin. Prof. Udom Kachintorn, the Deputy Minister of Education, visited Ban Hin Kob to see the work of six local schools taking part in the Trash Hero Kids program – the highlight of which was a dramatisation of our story book by Year 4 and 5 students from Ban Don Takian School. The play was well received by the Minister and we presented him with a Trash Hero gift bag containing our shirt, bottle and kids’ books.
The following day, representatives of Trash Hero Chumphon, Trash Hero Kids and Trash Hero World were invited, along with other community groups, to King Mongkut’s Institute of Technology Ladkrabang (Chumphon campus), to meet the Prime Minister. He spoke warmly of Trash Hero, and posed for photos with many of our young volunteers.
We were able to convey information about our activities, not only to the PM’s aides, but to other government ministers and provincial governors who were also present. In a direct conversation we thanked Mr Chan-ocha for his support and assured him that we are ready to work together with all parties to increase engagement and cooperation on tackling plastic pollution at the source.
Trash Hero Thailand currently has 27 active chapters and is registering as a legal entity.
Picture credits: ไทยคู่ฟ้า, PMDU and A. Nestcharat Photography
Trash Hero Kids at Ban Don Takian School in Chumphon, Thailand were inspired to produce a play of the Trash Hero story book. The kids made their own props, learned their lines and performed it in front of the Thai Deputy Minister for Education when he came to visit their area.
With their teachers, they also made their play into a movie, set on the beach. It was posted on YouTube to inspire other kids to take action on waste! You guys are awesome Trash Heroes!
Since we launched the kids’ book, we have seen so many super cool drawings that children have made after doing cleanups or other activities on the programme.
Here are just a few of the hundreds made by the very active Trash Hero Kids in Chumphon, Thailand.
You are awesome!
On World Oceans Day 2018, Trash Hero was honoured to be featured alongside inspirational figures Tiza Mafira from Diet Kantong Plastik, Afroz Shah, Hugo Tagholm from Surfers Against Sewage and Stiv Wilson from The Story of Stuff Project as one of UN Environment’s “5 Ocean Heroes” in an article on their website.
On 5 June 2018, Trash Hero Switzerland had the opportunity to present to some of XL Catlin’s staff at one of their “lunch and learn” sessions in Zurich. We had a very engaged audience and introduced them to the work Trash Hero does worldwide and also to our Trash Hero @ Work program.
The following week, we also had the opportunity to take part in Zurich Insurance’s Community Week. We introduced staff from Zurich’s International Programs team to the work Trash Hero does worldwide and also to our Trash Hero @ Work program. Afterwards they rolled up their sleeves and got stuck in with a very productive clean-up along the Limmat and Sihl rivers in Zürich.
28 people took part in the cleanup and we collected 140 kg of trash (pictured above). We had a really great time with Zurich Insurance and found their engagement very inspiring.
The Trash Hero @ Work program will support your company in reducing the amount of waste you produce, and award Trash Hero certification upon successful implementation of our waste-saving measures. The program fosters cooperation and strengthens team spirit, as well as enhancing your “green credentials” with your customers, employees and suppliers.
Update September 2021: Trash Hero @ Work is no longer running.
Special occasions call for a special report!
Read all about our recent #trashhero Family Meetings in Southeast Asia below (click on the link to view or download PDF), and find out how they were funded and supported.
Thanks to all our sponsors who made it happen and of course to all our amazing chapter leaders who brought so much knowledge, enthusiasm and love to the events 💛💛💛
Over the past three weeks, more than a hundred of our amazing local leaders across Southeast Asia came together in their countries for a series of summits, that we call “family meetings”, due to the incredible spirit and emotional connections that they foster.
Exchanging news, knowledge and ideas, they left energised and excited to do even more in their communities to take action on waste.
We kicked off in Bangkok, Thailand, from 27 – 29 April; then moved on to Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia from 1 – 2 May; Bali, Indonesia from 4 – 6 May; and finally Yangon in Myanmar from 11 – 13 May.
Alongside presentations on Trash Hero’s progress, values and objectives, we enjoyed lively discussions on community waste banks; burning trash; water filters; and greenwashing.
And we were able to start the process of registration of legal entities to represent Trash Hero within each country – a step that will allow the movement to professionalise and scale under the governance of Trash Hero World.
The family meetings also provided the opportunity to launch and distribute our kids’ book and activity program, sponsored by last year’s crowdfunding campaign. The response from our chapters was overwhelming, with all 3000 books snapped up – and in some areas, such as Trash Hero Candidasa below, already in use!
90 kids became Trash Heroes at the TEFL Samui English camp in Thailand last month! Over the 3 – 4 day camp, they learned about plastic pollution and the effects of trash on marine life from the Trash Hero kids book.
They created art from recycled materials, played games and acted out the story from the book in English. You are #awesome!
If you have any projects you have done about trash or reducing waste that you would like to send us, please ask a grown up to send them in to kids@trashhero.org 🙂
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The following week, we also had the opportunity to take part in Zurich Insurance’s Community Week. We introduced staff from Zurich’s International Programs team to the work Trash Hero does worldwide and also to our Trash Hero @ Work program. Afterwards they rolled up their sleeves and got stuck in with a very productive clean-up along the Limmat and Sihl rivers in Zürich.
