Collaboration | Trash Hero World

Massive 3-Day Cleanup Restores Koh Chang After Flooding

by Leslie Finlay on 24/09/2019 1 comment

Extremely heavy rainfall hit the small island of Koh Chang, Thailand over September 15-16 causing major flash flooding throughout the island. The flooding was so strong that dozens of homes were damaged, and more than 100 motorbikes and three vehicles were washed away, as reported by the local government. According to residents, it was the most dramatic weather seen in decades – as was the aftermath of destruction and debris. Fortunately, no one was hurt, and locals happily report that the island has already bounced back to normal – in no small part due to the huge, collaborative effort launched community-wide following the storm.

Clean-up efforts began across the island immediately, and Koh Chang’s Trash Hero representatives worked closely with the local government and officers from the National Park to coordinate an unprecedented three-day cleanup event – coinciding with September 21st’s international World Cleanup Day.

Debris and rubbish swept up in the floods emerged all across Koh Chang as the floodwaters receded. Runoff was particularly severe in areas like the beautiful Klong Phrao Beach, where water levels were reported to be up to 50cm deep during the storm. Without urgent removal, this waste would simply be carried by tides out to sea, where it enters the ecosystem and is unlikely to ever be recovered. Left unattended, this debris also carries health risks for humans, animals, and marine life alike.

More than 1,000 volunteers assembled over the three-day cleanup, including participants traveling from all across Thailand who had seen reports about the flooding. A number of electricians, kitchen staff, and cleanup volunteers headed to Koh Chang to join the local community, eager to help restore the beautiful island quickly, brought together through a community spirit of collective action!

Thirty-five Koh Chang hotels donated rooms to accommodate these non-local volunteers, while dozens of restaurants and local businesses provided ongoing food, fresh water, and supplies. Local authorities continued to offer constant support to the effort, with both the Koh Chang and Trat Province mayors on-site for the cleanups, leading by actionable example.

Over the next three days, rainy drizzle abated opening up to sunny blue skies, revealing the immense progress made. In total, more than 13 tonnes – or 28,600 pounds – of rubbish was collected for proper disposal by this enormous collaborative effort.

Trash Heroes Gearing Up for Sept. 21st’s World Cleanup Day!

by Leslie Finlay on 19/09/2019 No comments

All across the world Trash Heroes are getting ready to join the massive international cleanup effort this Saturday, September 21.

World Cleanup Day began in 2008 when 50,000 people united in Estonia to clean the country in 5 hours. Today, this effort has expanded, bringing together millions of people across 157 countries to address our shared problem of global waste by harnessing the impressive power of collective action.

This vision is led by Let’s Do It World, an organisation that believes in a spirit of unity to address the issues that come with unsustainable waste. We couldn’t agree more with this tenet at Trash Hero. Through collaboration and positivity, we can look beyond differences and come together under what unites us all – our planet, and the fight for its bright future.

These cleanups involve a rigorous data collection element, as do many Trash Hero cleanups, to provide ongoing analysis into the greatest challenges faced in reducing marine and coastal litter.

By recording what we collect, we can see over time the items that are most frequently wasted – motivating us to make everyday swaps to reusable, sustainable items like canvas bags and stainless steel water bottles and straws.

It’s been reported that up to 80% of environmental impact is generated by everyday household consumption, meaning its reduction – and the movement toward a waste-free future – is very much in our control!

To get involved, check for events organised by your local Trash Hero chapter, World Cleanup Day teams, or other organisations in your area. Or grab some friends and go! There’s no limit on how to make a positive change to your local area.

But don’t lose motivation after September 21st! Global waste is a growing issue, but it’s one that we can tackle together through collective, ongoing action and awareness.

Consider what reusable swaps you can make in your everyday life to reduce your personal plastic consumption. And help reduce the risk of plastic ending up in the marine environment – where it can be near impossible to recover – by disposing of it responsibly, and collecting it if you see it out in your local environment! The action of one individual may seem insignificant, but multiply that by the thousands of Trash Heroes of all ages across the world – and that impact turns into real, systemic change.

Six Senses Yao Noi Donates Trash Hero Bottles to All Kids on the Island

by Leslie Finlay on 31/08/2019 No comments

If Trash Heroes are certain of one thing, it’s that change happens when we band together!

The Trash Hero Kids Movement is going strong in Koh Yao Noi, Thailand, where kids at local schools are taking action to save the world and learn how to live more sustainably.

The excitement grew even stronger this month thanks to Six Senses Resort, which bought new reusable Trash Hero Water Bottles for all the kids on the island! The resort also installed water filtration systems in every school on Koh Yao Noi.

Making the switch from single-use plastics to reusable alternatives is critically important to the global fight against pollution. By teaching kids this importance, Trash Hero is actively working toward a sustainable future – and building the leaders of tomorrow!

Of the 20,000 plastic drink bottles purchased globally every second, it’s estimated that 19,000 are destined for a landfill at best – or otherwise likely to wind up in the sea. By using a reusable bottle, we can each save hundreds of plastic bottles every year from this fate!

To learn more about how to get your own Trash Hero Water Bottle and our participating partners, please visit our Bottle Refill Program page.

To join the Trash Hero Kids Movement, check out https://trashhero.org/kids/

Thanks again to Six Senses Yao Noi! If you’d like to support sustainability and the Trash Hero movement in your community, get in touch!

Trash Heroes in Myanmar Integral to Nation’s Ambitions for a Sustainable Future

by Leslie Finlay on 05/06/2019 1 comment

Our Trash Heroes in Myanmar met President U Win Myint at a World Environment Day event in Nay Pyi Taw. The President was originally introduced to Trash Hero in 2018, then honoring the growing national movement and its local chapters for their fantastic work, and for promoting the spirit of sustainability within their individual communities.

Trash Hero Myanmar Updates President U Win Myint on the year’s project successes

Addressing more than 400 stakeholders representing state and regional ministries, academic institutions, businesses, and special interest groups, the President urged the Burmese people to look at their own relationships with waste in their everyday lives. His message mirrored the spirit of the Trash Hero mission: that lasting, high-level change occurs from collective adjustments to our mindset and behaviours.

The President’s message is supported by a record of growing public action and awareness against waste. Myanmar’s first Trash Hero community clean was organized in Yangon in July 2016, coordinating 135 volunteers who collected more than 400 kg of rubbish. Today, Trash Hero Myanmar has expanded to 10 national chapters, who together have collected 46,517 kilograms of trash with the help of almost 17,000 volunteers – more than 5,000 of which are children.

The President’s support for movements like Trash Hero is predicated on a national ambition to develop the country as a climate-resilient, low-carbon, low-waste society.

Trash Hero Myanmar has grown quickly with 10 national chapters actively reducing the waste problem in their communities

He announced two new policies that recognize the increasing threat of extreme weather and other climate change impacts this economic and social development. These policies – called the National Environmental Policy and the Myanmar Climate Change Policy – recognize the need for collaboration among ministries, civil society, businesses, and academia. But the President also highlights the importance of public participation – through initiatives like Trash Hero – to establish a sustainable national mindset.

“I would like to urge Myanmar citizens, including all of you, to participate for the current and future sustainable development of our country by changing your daily lifestyles in order to support environmental conservation,” he said while addressing participants at the World Environment Day event.

The Heroes of Trash Hero Myanmar in Action!

Microplastics in Maya Bay!

by Seema on 10/04/2019 No comments

Maya Bay is famous throughout the world: first as “The Beach” in the Leonardo Dicaprio movie of the same name and, more recently, as the beach that was closed to the public due to excessive damage from tourist traffic.

Trash Hero Koh Phi Phi had the privilege of holding a recent cleanup on the now deserted beach, by invitation of the Marine National Park Research Centre 3 and the head of the Maya Bay Rehabillitation Project, Supaporn Prempee.

Together with the National Park rangers and Ocean Quest, an international NGO who are overseeing the coral nursery program in the bay, 26 volunteers carried out the first ever microplastic survey on the beach.

“Despite the beach having been cleaned of all visible debris several times since the closure in June 2018, we were able to find 1.5kg of micro plastic particles [small pieces < 5mm in length], in an area of 150sqm [30m x 5m],” said Caroline Lecky from the local Trash Hero team.

That’s thousands of buried pieces of plastic, mostly invisible to the naked eye as you walk along the sand. The majority of these were “secondary microplastics”, or fragments of larger plastic items such as bottles and foam boxes that have broken down in the sun and ocean currents. Plastic never biodegrades. There are likely to be more, even finer particles that slipped through the sieves.

Anuar Abdullah, the founder of Ocean Quest, said of the micro plastic survey that: “the data will be saved and we will do regular sifting of the designated area to see if there is any reduction.”

In total, the team collected and removed 308kg of trash from the stunning Thai beach.

Thanks to Blue View Divers and also Barakuda Diving, who sponsored the transport and cleaning materials for the day, and to David and Parn for the beautiful video. Our thanks also to the Maya Beach Protection Unit 5 (National Park) for hosting Trash Hero, providing fruit and refreshments and joining the cleanup.

Together we make a difference – brands edition!

by Seema on 21/03/2019 No comments

At Trash Hero we have always believed that cooperation is the key to creating long term behavioural change. That’s why we are very excited about our latest collaboration with Sonni Hönscheid, the six-time SUP world champion, MIZU, Starboard and Brands for Good.

All of us share the same goal, as Sonni puts it: “to get societies’ attention and sensitise them to live a more sustainable life.”

Sonni, a talented artist as well as sportsperson, designed a beautiful resuable stainless steel water bottle for MIZU, a company founded by a fellow athlete, Olympic snowboarder Jussi Oksanen. Since 2008, MIZU has been dedicated to reducing single use plastics in the outdoor adventure field.

The artwork was based on a painting Sonni created in Maui (pictured above), inspired by the beauty of the ocean and its diverse inhabitants.

[Above: The original promotional material: the bottle is now sold out, but more may be on the way!]

With the support of Starboard, Sonni’s paddle board partner and a long-time sponsor of Trash Hero, and the organisation Brands for Good, who present sustainable products and social projects within the sports industry, the limited edition “Love Your Ocean” bottle was launched at ISPO Munich 2019, with all proceeds from its sale going to support the work of Trash Hero World. And to make the project even more synergistic, MIZU provided free water refills during the trade show for everyone who purchased the bottle.

Starboard’s Albert Font de Rubinat, who is also one of the team running Trash Hero Bangkok, was there in Munich and took part in a panel discussion with Sonni Hönscheid, Tim Pogue (MIZU) and Frank Lohse (Brands for Good), about the importance of sustainability.

The bottle was a hit, and MIZU continued sales on its European website following the event, raising a total of CHF 1,930. The original artwork by Sonni Hönscheid that inspired the design was also auctioned at the ISPO trade fair, fetching CHF 2,105 – all of which has been donated to Trash Hero World, along with CHF 500 from Starboard.

We are very grateful to all concerned: not just for the much needed funds, which will go to our projects in Thailand, but also for the opportunity to collaborate and show the impact it is possible to have by working across traditional divides.

Bag yourself the new Tasini x Trash Hero turtle

by Seema on 05/02/2019 1 comment

We are delighted to launch the Trash Hero edition of #tasini and #inibags, as part of our ongoing Bottles & Bags programme. The bags are a collaboration with the social enterprise Making Oceans Plastic Free, with the idea of reusing plastic bottles to help reduce plastic bag waste.

The branded resuable shoppers come in two versions: in a plain yellow pouch (Inibag) or with a cute turtle pouch (Tasini), to promote awareness of the ecosystem we want to protect.

⭐️ With this bag you save two✌️ plastic bottles from polluting the environment 👉 Each Bag is made from 2 recycled plastic bottles ♻️!
⭐️ Handmade in Indonesia!
⭐️ Attached to a keychain 🔑 so you won’t forget your reusable bag any more. Save 💯s of plastic bags each year!
⭐️ And the #tasini Trash Hero Turtle 🐢 helps you spread the message of awareness about plastic pollution and inspire the change in people around you!

Bags are distributed at cost by our chapters in Indonesia, Thailand, Myanmar, Switzerland, New York and Finland. Get in touch with your nearest chapter for more information.

Trash Hero attends Clean World Conference 2019

by Rima Agustina on 01/02/2019 1 comment

More than 200 representatives from 70 nations and various environmental protection organisations gathered at this year’s “Clean World Conference” from 24 to 27 January 2019.

The conference was organized in Tallinn, Estonia by the “Let’s Do It Foundation”, with the purpose of sharing experience from World Cleanup Day, held on 15 September last year; taking the next steps to implement the follow-up “Keep It Clean” plan; and determining the organiser of the next World Cleanup Day.

Trash Hero took part in the conference, represented by Roman Peter, co-founder of Trash Hero World; and Rima Agustina and Sebastian Roschkowski from Trash Hero Indonesia. Trash Hero was an official community partner at World Cleanup Day last year and will be again this coming year.

The conference was opened by Estonian President Kersti Kaljulaid, who stressed the importance of consumers’ behaviour and purchasing habits in moving towards more sustainable industry and business practices. The opening was followed by an introductory speech by expert in policy making, Clarissa Charlotte Morawski from Reloop Platform; representative of organised civil society and vice president of Global Earth Day, Valeria Merino; and general manager of Toyota Motor Europe, Stephen Hope.

The main topic of the first day of the conference was the “Keep It Clean” plan and its implementation in various sectors. Additionally, educational projects and awareness-raising campaigns to address the problem of mismanaged waste on a local and global level were also discussed.

The second day of the conference focused on summaries of the World Cleanup Day held on 15 Sept 2018. Five country team leaders shared their success stories: Agustina Iskandar (Indonesia), who led 7.68 million people participating in the initiative in the country; Aijan Chynybaeva (Kyrgyzstan), who managed to involve 7 percent of the country’s population; Luan Hasanaj, who was responsible for the 10.6 percent of Kosovo’s population that took part in the event; Nima Zare (Iran), who organised cleanups in difficult conditions of political unrest but successfully motivated 144,000 people to participate in the cause; and Carlos Serra (Mozambique), who shared about his experience in engaging and educating young people on the issues.

Trash Hero co-founder, Roman Peter, was invited as a panelist in the discussion of “How to make World Cleanup Day more impactful? How to use it as awareness building tool about waste problem?”, with the key question of “should we continue cleaning up?”. Roman answered clearly “yes.” Further, he explained that Trash Hero will continue to do cleanups, as we see directly that they are a valuable educational tool that opens the door to behaviour change. “For us, this is the only way to finally stop cleaning up in the future,” he added.

Trash Hero believes this year has the perfect momentum for the planet to shift in the right direction. We are happy to be part of it and we look forward to continue supporting the initiatives in the future.

—–

Some livestream videos of the conference can be seen below:

Panel discussion of “How to make World Cleanup Day more impactful? How to use it as awareness building tool about waste problem?”
https://www.facebook.com/trashheroindonesia/videos/747318285648476

World Cleanup Day Indonesia’s leader, Agustina’s speech:

Agustina Iskandar, the leader of World Cleanup Day Indonesia gives a speech about success story of Indonesia to the world in Clean World Conference 2019 in Tallinn, Estonia. #LetsDoIt #WCW2019

Gepostet von Trash Hero Indonesia am Freitag, 25. Januar 2019

Paddling the Thames – Source to Sea

by Leslie Finlay on 18/06/2018 1 comment

Our friends over at The Whale Company are currently carrying out a 300 kilometer mission to deliver “a message in a bottle” to the UK Parliament about the rising tide of plastic pollution.

The team is stand-up paddling its way along the famed UK river route – from source to sea – aboard their trademark plastic bottle boards. Along the journey they’re stopping by local communities to conduct workshops and clean-ups, visit schools and constituencies, and collect letters from the public urging their government leaders to prioritize the fight against plastic pollution. The “message in a bottle” will be delivered to Parliament on June 26, just before completion of the 300 km stretch.

The Whale Company travels the world aboard SUP boards made entirely of plastic bottles removed from the environment. Check their website for detailed how-to guides on creating your own SUP board!

Follow their journey on their website or Facebook page, and check out their route.

“It’s been great to see public awareness of plastic pollution growing, but we need our politicians to stop dragging their heels and act now,” said Carolyn Newton, co-founder of The Whale Company. “The longer we delay in taking action, the more difficult it will be for our oceans and waterways to recover from the damage we’re causing through not only our plastic use, but also our poor recycling rates.”

Currently, just 24% of the five million tons of plastic used in the UK each year is recycled.

Founders Carlos de Sousa and Carolyn Newton are no strangers to plastic pollution, having travelled the world making SUPs out of plastic bottles and completing 12 marathon paddles in 12 countries across Europe in 2017 on their Bottle Boards.

Carolyn and Carlos, founders of The Whale Company, discuss the goals of their journey with the BBC

Education is an important part of their philosophy, which led to the creation of their Bottle Boards workshops. By talking about how to use plastic waste in a different way and highlighting the problem to children and teenagers, Carlos and Carolyn hope to inspire the next generation.

Ahead of their Source to Sea paddle they have given several assemblies in schools and ran a Bottle Boards workshop at the Barnes Children’s Literature Festival, resulting in their first expedition board produced with the help of more than 200 kids.

Along their route, The Whale Company is stopping by local communities, schools, and constituencies to spread their message and collect letters to Parliament from members of the public

For more information about their epic paddle, their plastic bottle SUPs or their efforts to promote more sustainable lifestyles, contact Carolyn Newton on 07870685994, visit their Facebook page, or send a message to supmarathon@gmail.com.

Day 8. 15km. 4 hours paddling + 2 wonderful school assemblies Ep Collier Primary School At Caversham& Thameside Primary School. Huge thanks to all the teachers & pupils for their amazing welcome & enthusiasm to our cause. Finally, a big shout out to @riverandrowingmuseum for allowing us to store our bottle boards. Their fantastic Wind in the Willows exhibit made our day & was the best end to Little Nat's journey with us….until next time!

Gepostet von The Whale Company am Samstag, 16. Juni 2018

About The Whale Company

The Whale Company is a charity founded by Carolyn Newton and Carlos de Sousa to promote a more sustainable lifestyle, encourage more people to connect with nature and to change attitudes surrounding plastic use. They believe that education is the strongest tool to do this, because we protect what we love.

Running Bottle Board workshops is one aspect of this – they want people to realise that enjoying watersports doesn’t have to be expensive, and to inspire creative thinking about how we deal with our plastic waste. For more information about their activities, visit https://thewhalecompany.co.uk/.

The Whale Company Paddles with Trash Heroes

by Leslie Finlay on 02/03/2018 No comments

The Whale Company is a conservation organization started by two passionate conservationists who wanted to connect their love for the ocean with an inspirational message about sustainability.

Carolyn and Carlos spent 2017 paddling their way through 12 Stand Up Paddleboard (SUP) marathons on their own, handmade Bottle Boards. The boards are entirely constructed of plastic bottles and other recycled materials, and through their use The Whale Company seeks to raise awareness of plastic pollution in the world’s oceans.

During the last few months, they’ve traveled around Thailand visiting Trash Hero chapters and running workshop to teach communities how to build SUP boards out of plastic bottles. The process is surprisingly easy and the boards are incredibly durable – they lasted through marathon events, after all.

Courtesy of The Koh Tao International Primary School

The Whale Company hopes to see more people up-cycling to create useful and ergonomic products, and instill a love for the marine environment among the upcoming generation of kids. They also produce a line called “Whalebags” and “Whaletreads,” that focuses on organic, reusable products, and even includes flip flops made out of recycled tires.

The organization plans to release a full tutorial detailing how to make its boards free for anyone to follow, so stay tuned for updates from their Facebook page.

Courtesy of The Whale Company