Koh Lanta Gets Creative with Upcycling

by Leslie Finlay on 02/04/2018 1 comment

Many countries around the world have banned the use of polystyrene – also commonly known as styrofoam – because of its extremely negative environmental impact.

For years the material was a popular packaging for food items, electronics, furniture, and disposables because of its light weight, low expense, and wide availability. However, the material is essentially non-biodegradable meaning it can take hundreds or even thousands of years to decompose, and can also easily break apart into little bits that are ingested by animals and sea life. What’s more, both the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) have classified polystyrene as a possible human carcinogen.

Polystyrene is one of the most difficult nonrenewable materials to responsibly dispose of. Its light weight and bulkiness means it easily travels around via wind or waves.

In 2016, the Thai Office of Consumer Protection Board (OCPB) launched its Safety Without Polystyrene Foam in Food Packaging project to encourage the domestic food industry to quit using the product in its packaging. The government has also been open to discussions about subsidizing more sustainable alternatives for vendors like cardboard. The subsequent reduction nationwide has been dramatic in some areas, but our Trash Heroes continue to collect vast amounts of the discarded material washing up on the beach. The point source is almost impossible to estimate, as winds can waves can easily carry the lightweight chunks over hundreds of kilometers of ocean.

Trash Hero Koh Lanta meets every Sunday at 4:00PM at Long Beach park to preserve this stunning paradise.

Even when collected polystyrene is incredibly difficult to dispose of responsibly, especially considering that it’s usually quite bulky. So our heroes on Koh Lanta rose to the challenge and found this creative way to up-cycle the waste while making ultra-cosy bean bag chairs for lounging around after an afternoon clean!

With a little ingenuity and creative spirit, the team built this polystyrene shredder that easily breaks those large chunks down into useable pieces perfect for stuffing plush bean bag chairs. It’s a great answer to taking a local challenge and turning it into a cheap, new indulgence for their paradise.

Trash Hero Koh Lanta developed a polystyrene crusher to help dispose of the chunks they collect during cleanups, and create awesome new additions to their beachfront!

While these awesome methods help manage our waste in the present, the best option is to always aim to reduce our single-use waste in our everyday lives. Shop for items that aren’t wrapped in plastic and carry your own reusable containers and cutlery to limit the need for single-use takeaway items. It’s these small changes on the individual level that can help us all ensure a beautiful future.

What local waste challenges does your community face, and what sort of ways have you found to manage it?

Schnarwiler AG and Trash Hero World fight plastic waste in the hotel industry

by Rahel Schaub on 05/02/2018 No comments

Schnarwiler AG and Trash Hero World launch four refillable beauty products with 100% natural ingredients. Together they make a valuable contribution to reduce plastic waste in the hotel sector.

–Für Deutsch bitte runter scrollen–

Love Earth, Love Water, Love Air and Love Fire – these are the sounding names of the four new products that Schnarwiler AG and Trash Hero World are launching together. The reusable glass dispensers contain a hand and body soap, a shampoo, a conditioner and a body lotion.

4 tons of plastic waste for a hotel with 200 beds – per year
Trash Hero World and Sandro Schnarwiler, Managing Directors of Schnarwiler AG, are both aware of the increasing amount of single-use plastic that pollutes our environment. Schnarwiler sees great potential in saving plastic in the hotel industry: “Many hotels provide guest-amenities in small plastic bottles and tubes – most of them end up as trash even though they are still half full”. He calculates that a hotel with 200 beds and 80% occupancy provides around 500 such plastic containers per night. This results in more than 180,000 pieces per year and thus almost 4 tons of plastic waste. For this reason, Trash Hero World and Schnarwiler decided to launch a joint beauty line.

Hotels will equip all rooms with refillable dispensers rather than small plastic bottles and tubes. By placing small brochures in every room, they will inform their guests about the global plastic pollution and increasing usage of single-use plastic. Schnarwiler and Trash Hero World hope to sensitize the guests for the issue and thus expect that guests will appreciate the dispensers.

Each year, about eight million tons of plastic end up in our seas. Studies from Plastic Soup Foundation in Holland prove that out of these eight, two million come from microplastics from cosmetics and car tires. “To prevent our seas and fish from filling up with more and more tiny pieces of plastic, we all must switch to cosmetics free from microplastic.” says Lea Allemann from Trash Hero World.

Become a Trash Hero at home
But refillable dispensers in hotels are just the beginning – hotel guests and everyone else can buy the products at the reception in participating hotels, on schnarwiler.ch, and from the Swiss online shop siroop.ch. Refills can be ordered on schnarwiler.ch or by simply returning an empty dispenser to Schnarwiler. Furthermore, Trash Hero World and Schnarwiler plan to cooperate with Zero Waste Shops in Switzerland to make the distribution and purchase as simple as possible. For each dispenser sold, Trash Hero World receives a certain amount which is then used to fight global plastic pollution.

Schnarwiler is a Swiss manufacturer and distributor of exclusive brands for health, beauty and sleep and primarily supplies hotels, spas, pharmacies, drugstores, and therapists. Their promise “100% natural products” was made 30 years ago and is still the common denominator of all products.

Medienmitteilung

Inwil, Luzern, 4. Februar 2018

Trash Hero World und Schnarwiler AG sagen dem Plastikmüll den Kampf an

Trash Hero World und Schnarwiler AG lancieren gemeinsam vier nachfüllbare Beauty-Produkte mit 100% natürlichen Inhaltsstoffen. Damit leisten sie einen wertvollen Beitrag gegen Berge von Plastikabfall im Hotelsektor.

Love Earth, Love Water, Love Air und Love Fire – das sind die klingenden Namen der vier neuen Produkte, die Schnarwiler AG und Trash Hero World ab sofort gemeinsam vertreiben. Die wiederverwendbaren Glasspender beinhalten je eine Hand- und Körperseife, ein Shampoo, ein Conditioner und eine Bodylotion.

Pro Jahr 4 Tonnen unnötiger Plastikmüll für ein Hotel mit 200 Betten

Trash Hero World und Sandro Schnarwiler, Geschäftsführer von Schnarwiler AG sind sich beide der zunehmenden Verschwendung von Plastik bewusst. Schnarwiler sieht insbesondere bei Hotels grosses Potential: «Pro Gast und Nacht fällt eine grosse Menge an kleinen Plastikfläschchen und -tuben an – die meisten wandern noch halbvoll direkt in den Müll». Er rechnet vor, dass ein Hotel mit 200 Betten und 80% Belegung pro Nacht rund 500 solcher Plastikbehälter benötigt. Pro Jahr ergibt das über 180’000 Stück und somit knapp vier Tonnen Plastikmüll. Vor diesem Hintergrund haben Trash Hero World und Schnarwiler die gemeinsame Beauty-Linie lanciert.

Hotels werden in allen Zimmern die Spender anstelle der kleinen Plastikfläschchen- und tuben für ihre Gäste bereitstellen. Genau gleich wie bei den Handtüchern, werden sie ihre Gäste mit Informationstafeln über die globale Plastikverschmutzung und zunehmende Verschwendung von Plastik informieren und auf die Spender aufmerksam machen.

Geschätzte acht Millionen Tonnen Plastik fliessen jährlich in die Weltmeere. Studien von Plastic Soup Foundation aus Holland belegen, dass zwei Million Tonnen davon von Mikroplastik aus Kosmetikprodukten und Autoreifen stammen. “Um zu verhindern, dass sich unsere Gewässer und Fische immer mehr mit Mikroplastik füllen, sollten wir alle nur noch Kosmetikprodukte ohne Mikroplastik kaufen.” meint Lea Allemann von Trash Hero World.

Auch zu Hause zum «Trash Hero» werden

Aber Nachfüllbare Seifenspender in Hotels sind längst nicht alles – Hotelgäste und alle anderen können die Produkte in teilnehmenden Hotels an der Reception, auf schnarwiler.ch und im Schweizer Onlineshop siroop.ch kaufen. Nachfüllungen bestellt man ebenfalls bei schnarwiler.ch oder man retourniert ganz einfach die leeren Spender an Schnarwiler und erhält die gefüllten Spender per Post zurück. In Zukunft möchten Trash Hero World und Schnarwiler auch mit Zero Waste Shops in der Schweiz zusammenarbeiten, um den Vertrieb und die Nachfüllungen noch einfacher zu machen. Mit jedem verkauften Spender geht ein Beitrag an Trash Hero World und wird zur Bekämpfung der globalen Verschmutzung durch Plastik eingesetzt.

Schnarwiler ist Hersteller und Distributor von exklusiven Marken rund um Gesundheit, Schönheit und Schlafen und beliefert vor Allem Hotels, SPAs, Apotheken, Drogerien und Therapeuten. Ihr Versprechen «alles 100% natürliche Produkte» wurde vor 30 Jahren abgegeben und ist auch heute noch der gemeinsame Nenner aller Produkte.

Trash Hero World ist eine Nonprofit-Organisation, sich für eine Welt frei von Abfall und insbesondere für eine Reduktion von Plastikabfall einsetzt. Trash Hero World ist mit unterschiedlichen Projekten an 42 verschiedenen Orten in 9 Ländern (Thailand, Indonesien, Myanmar, Malaysia, Tschechien, USA, Schweiz, China, Singapur) aktiv.

Trash Hero Indonesia Joins Zero Waste Indonesia 2020 Movement at National Jamboree

by Leslie Finlay on 19/01/2018 No comments

Last November, Greeneration Indonesia hosted the 4th annual National Zero Waste Jamboree 2017 in Banda Aceh. By participating in this jamboree, Trash Hero Indonesia is now listed as national movement that is supported by the Indonesian government.

“We are citizens of countries, but we are also citizens of the world,” said Trash Hero Rima Agustina, reflecting on the message of unity at the event. “Waste is not only a regional or national problem, but also world problem, as waste doesn’t recognize any political borders. Trash Hero Indonesia introduces the concept of collaboration between local people, local government, and volunteers from all over the world to create a better environment.”

Focus group discussion at the National Zero Waste Jamboree 2017 in Banda Aceh.

The event was held November 10-12 in coordination with Ministry of Environment and Forestry, Ministry of Maritime Affair and Fisheries, Ministry for Human Development and Cultural Affairs, Ministry of Public Works and Housing, and Ministry of Health of Indonesia. The 289 zero waste activists all over Indonesia gathered to share news and experience, and meet with government representatives. The event facilitated momentum of important stakeholders in the country to network and to collaborate to find sustainable solutions of waste problems in Indonesia.

At the end of the jamboree, all the participants read out loud The Declaration of Zero Waste Indonesia 2020:

“As an effort to provide the better environment for the future generations, we, Indonesian citizens determine to realize the target of Zero Waste Indonesia 2020.

Together we are ready to:

Reduce, separate, and put the waste in the proper place.
Responsibly manage our own waste.
Actively participate in waste management activities held by Indonesian government.”

To complete the trip Trash Hero Indonesia conducted a clean up at Lampu Ulee Kareng Beach, Banda Aceh, a day after the jamboree finished. Some new heroes came to participate and share some fun time at the beach and learned more about the Trash Hero movement. This kind of curiosity and collaboration is how new chapters are born!

Clean up at Lampu Ulee Kareng Beach, Banda Aceh – one of the places hit by the tsunami in 2004.

Trash Hero Koh Samui: A Growing Community

by Leslie Finlay on 14/01/2018 2 comments

One of the most impressive abilities of our Trash Hero leaders is their talent for collaborating and uniting an entire community against unnecessary waste, across cultures, languages, businesses, and a number of other interests. Last month, Trash Hero Koh Samui hosted a community-wide event to further network the organization alongside like-minded interests on the island and make way for an even more productive 2018.

Their goal is to bring community members together to educate all about recycling, waste-free living, and the dangers posed by trash. Full community involvement increases opportunities for effective clean-ups and fundraising to invest in initiatives like reusable bottles, bags, and water refill stations. Trash Hero Samui is also working to increase involvement of local students, including those from the International School of Samui (ISS), to empower them to assume leadership roles driving the cleaning and sustainability of their local communities.

In spite of inclement weather and heavy rains, more than 200 people joined to clean an area of Hua Thanon, including the Mayor of Koh Samui, representatives from major businesses and the Army, members of other local organizations like Samui Clean, and many Thai schools.

Trash Hero Commits to I Care Initiative

by Leslie Finlay on 02/12/2017 No comments

Trash Hero is proud to announce our participation in the global I Care initiative among various organizations, companies, associations and individuals around the world dedicated to a cleaner ocean.

I Care participants commit to tackle the problem of marine plastic through three steps:

Reduce daily consumption of disposable plastic items
Remove of plastic waste from our shorelines
Rescue animals injured by or caught in plastic marine waste

All types of marine life are affected by plastic entering our oceans

As Trash Heroes, we can honor this commitment in simple, everyday ways. Choose reusable and sustainable alternatives to items like produce bags, straws, plastic bottles, single-use coffee cups, personal care products containing microbeads, and synthetic clothing. Each individual commitment means less kilograms of plastic waste entering our oceans.

Live more sustainably by using reusable bottles and bags and clothing made from environmentally-friendly materials

I Care is a commitment developed by OceanCare, an organization working toward marine protection since 1989 through research, campaigns, environmental education and participation in international committees. Their work has been recognized by the United Nations Economic and Social Council and the organization granted Special Consultative Status on marine issues. Through this distinction, it advocates for updated policy and regulations to reduce plastic waste on national, regional, and global levels.

This video produced by OceanCare describes its mission and introduces I Care participants, including Trash Hero at the 10:00 minute mark! This compilation was recently shown to the 12th Session of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species in Manila #cmscop12 on 26th October 2017.

How do you demonstrate your commitment to a cleaner ocean?

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.

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.

—

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