Encouraging change through tradition in Bali

by Seema on 05/11/2020 No comments

Being a Trash Hero has become a way of life for thousands of volunteers around the world. Our simple and non-confrontational actions to reduce plastic waste can be integrated seamlessly into any cultural setting.

Here is a wonderful example in Bali, where the local Hindu community has made cleanups part of its religious rituals. The connection is powerful: linking sustainable practices with tradition makes them more socially acceptable. It turns “that problem” (external) into “our problem” and eventually “our responsibility”.

This is one of those rare videos where you feel that change happening through the screen. Our thanks to the talented videographer, Johan Wahyudi, who captured it all on Banyu Pinaruh day last year.

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SeemaEncouraging change through tradition in Bali

Almost 200 volunteers join Trash Hero Family Meetings

by Seema on 11/12/2019 No comments

Trash Hero’s greatest strength is its people. Our volunteers bring the energy, hard work and commitment that our weekly programmes demand. More, they live our values, spreading the message of reducing waste to their families, friends and work colleagues.

Twice a year, we gather these community leaders together in national “family meetings”, hosted by Trash Hero World. The three-day events are held in key countries in Southeast Asia and Europe, where we have a concentration of active chapters. Volunteers are invited to attend, free of charge, to receive training and education, as well as exchange knowledge and ideas with others in their country.

At the recent round of meetings in Oct – Nov 2019, we were able to train 197 volunteers from 95 different chapters. The breakdown by country can be seen below:


Trash Hero Myanmar | 4 – 6 October 2019 in Ngapali

Volunteers trained: 13
Chapters: 7
Many thanks to our sponsors:
– Yoma Cherry Lodge & Mummy Sue: food and tea breaks
– Vera Thomson English School: free meeting room


Trash Hero Indonesia | 11 – 13 October 2019 in Bali

Volunteers trained: 80
Chapters: 40
Many thanks to our sponsors:
– Baliwoso: discounted accommodation
– Paguyuban Saba Driver: discounted transportation
– I Nyoman Parta (Member of People’s Representative Council of Indonesian Republic – Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat Republik Indonesia)


Trash Hero Thailand | 19 – 21 October in Bangkok

Volunteers trained: 60
Chapters: 22
Many thanks to our sponsor:
– Ban Nam Pheung Homestay: free meeting room


Trash Hero Malaysia | 25 – 27 October in Mersing

Volunteers trained: 26
Chapters: 17
Many thanks to our sponsors:
– Mohd Faisial Abdul Rani & family: free accommodation / 2 houses
– Majlis Daerah Mersing (Mersing District Council): free meeting room and food
– Sustainable Business Network Association, Malaysia: 2000 MYR cash donation used for other food and transportation costs.


Trash Hero Czech Republic | 8 – 10 November in Prague

Volunteers trained: 18
Chapters: 9
Many thanks to our sponsor:
– Kavárna co hledá jméno : free meeting room


Special mention to Reisebüro Feriezyt, who regularly provide discounted travel for Trash Hero World.

We would also like to thank our volunteers who planned and organised each event; the speakers and workshop leaders who also gave their time for free; and our supporters, whose donations enable us to hold these important meetings twice a year. The total cost for all meetings came to US$27,700, or around US$140 per participant.

Together with these ~200 volunteers who joined (some on their days of annual leave), we were able to strengthen our community base, reinforce quality standards and empower new leaders for the expanding Trash Hero movement around the globe.

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SeemaAlmost 200 volunteers join Trash Hero Family Meetings

World’s Top Polluters Revealed by Break Free from Plastic’s 2019 Brand Audit

by Leslie Finlay on 24/10/2019 No comments

This week, Break Free From Plastic (BFFP) released their second global brand audit, Branded Vol. II: Identifying the World’s Top Corporate Plastic Polluters. 

On 2019’s World Clean Up Day held September 21, more than 72 thousand volunteers from 51 countries around the world collected 476,423 pieces of plastic from coastlines, riversides, and within their communities – 43% of which were marked with a clear consumer brand.

In 2019, BFFP had over seven times as many volunteers contribute to this brand audit as it did in 2018, recording twice the amount of single-use plastic.

The Top 3 Global Polluters are the same as those from 2018: Coca Cola, Nestlé, and Pepsico.

The other seven companies the brand audit identified as top plastic polluters include: Mondelez International, Unilever, Mars, Procter & Gamble, Colgate-Palmolive, Philips Morris International, and Perfetti van Melle. 

© Break Free From Plastic Branded Vol. II: Identifying the World’s Top Corporate Plastic Polluters.

 

 

World Cleanup Day volunteers recorded the branded waste collected as they cleaned their communities, submitting a combined 484 audits to Break Free From Plastic. The Trash Heroes of Indonesia were even awarded a silver medal in recognition of their 7,520 volunteers!

The volunteers in Ambon, Indonesia were hit with a 6.5-magnitude earthquake and evacuated from their homes – and yet still retrieved their brand audits to submit their data to BFFP, a true, inspiring commitment to these heroes fighting to improve their communities and move toward a waste-free future.

Such brand audits are a powerful tool for holding consumer goods companies accountable for their role in the global plastic waste problem, revealing just how widespread and damaging their throwaway plastic business model has become. 

“There is a great need to better understand the sources and priority products that contribute to plastic pollution closer to the source, so we can better intervene on solutions,” the BFFP report says.  

For the second year in a row, Coca Cola came is as the #1 global polluter. In just one day, an incredible 11,732 branded Coca Cola plastics were collected and recorded – more than the next three top global polluters combined. In the past, Coca Cola has attempted to address its role in the plastic pollution crisis by promoting plastic packaging using plastic collected from the ocean, or using plastic bottles made from plants, or bioplastics. But these “solutions” merely reinforce the myth that single-use plastic can be sustainable. 

According to the report, the #2 polluter, Nestlé, has announced its commitment to making all of its packaging recyclable or reusable by 2025 – but with no clear plan for reducing the total amount of single-use plastics it produces. The company sells over a billion products a day in single-use plastic. In spite of these claims, on the shores of Lake Geneva, home to Nestlé’s global headquarters, Greenpeace Switzerland volunteers collected 1,124 plastic items in just two hours on World Cleanup Day. 

Unilever, the #5 plastic polluter, has promised to reduce its role as a plastic polluter by using chemical recycling, according to BFFP’s report. This technology, however, is unproven, extremely energy intensive, and its adoption on a large scale is completely unfeasible.

These pivots and marketed alternatives made by global brands are ignoring the primary issue – we need to reduce our dependence on plastic altogether, and that starts at the source with these primary producers. 



Overall, the most common types of plastics collected throughout the audit included:

  • PET plastics – clear or tinted plastic often used in drink bottles, cups, and pouches
  • HDEP plastics – white or coloured plastic
  • PVC plastics – hard or rubbery plastic used in building materials, toys, and shower curtains

© Break Free From Plastic Branded Vol. II: Identifying the World’s Top Corporate Plastic Polluters.

We can make more sustainable choices as individuals, but the consumer is not fully responsible.

For years, the corporate narrative has been that plastic pollution is a problem caused by individual consumers. False solutions like recycling, incineration, and bioplastics are rampantly promoted, but fail to address the real problem – constant, large scale production.

The report addresses that in many cases, across many communities, it’s simply impossible to avoid plastic in our everyday lives. The responsibility simply cannot fall entirely on individual consumer choices. We have a powerful global plastics industry that plans to quadruple plastic production by 2050, meaning the environmental, social justice, and health threats associated with such high levels of plastic waste will increase dramatically. 

“Plastic is not a litter problem, it is a pollution problem, and it starts as soon as the plastic is made,” the BFFP report states. “Faced with no choice but plastic packaging, people are forced to be complicit in the plastic pollution crisis.”

In the report, Break Free from Plastic also discussed zero-waste and policy solutions designed to address this systemic plastic production problem. 

Highlights include examples of cities and organisations using surveys, audits, and citizen science methods to understand their local waste problem and demand that suppliers of plastic products take accountability for their role in unsustainable waste – as well as governments that set the policies to regulate these companies 

Inspiring examples of community-led change from the audit include: 

  • Tacloban City, a highly urbanised area in central Philippines, is well on its way to becoming a Zero Waste model city. In partnership with the Filipino non-profit organisation the Mother Earth Foundation, the city launched intensive house-to-house information, education, and communication campaigns about waste management and separation. 
  • The 5 Gyres Institute in North America conducted scientific expeditions to study the global estimate of microplastics in the world’s oceans. The findings contributed to the eventual banning of plastic microbeads in America through the Microbeads Free Waters Act.
  • In Guatemala, a university student worked with local organisations to pressure the local government to rethink its policies toward single use plastic. Later that year, the Mayor placed a ban on the sale and use of straws, plastic bags, and polystyrene products. The municipality then ran campaigns to promote the use of traditional packaging like maxan leaves, sugarcane baskets, and reusable dishware and utensils, providing items throughout the community and its businesses. 

Examples like these, and many others included in the full report, highlight how no matter where in the world you live, community power – and creating a culture of accountability – can lead to powerful, lasting change toward a plastic waste-free future. 

Check out the full report and brand audit from Break Free From Plastic to learn more.

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Leslie FinlayWorld’s Top Polluters Revealed by Break Free from Plastic’s 2019 Brand Audit

Putting volunteers first

by Seema on 26/06/2019 1 comment

The latest round of Trash Hero Family Meetings drew to a close this week in Zurich, Switzerland. The city was one of two new European locations that hosted our regular team-building, training and networking event for volunteers – the other being in Prague, Czech Republic, earlier this month.

The new additions reflect the rapid growth of Trash Hero within Europe: there are now active chapters not only in Switzerland and the Czech Republic, but also in Serbia and Romania.

Trash Hero Switzerland Family Meeting in Zurich, June 2019

 

However, the season kicked off in April, back in Southeast Asia where the Trash Hero movement began. Trash Hero Malaysia and Singapore volunteers gathered in Kota Kinabalu from 25 – 27 April, followed by Trash Hero Indonesia teams on 2 – 4 May in Bali. Our Thai chapter leaders met in Khao Lak from 10 – 12 May, while Trash Hero Myanmar hosted their volunteers in Yangon, from 15 – 17 May.

The family meetings have become key engagements in our organisation’s calendar: as a diverse and dispersed network, they provide us with the vital time and space for immersive, face to face communication that helps to equip and motivate volunteers for the coming months. They are normally held twice a year: in April – May and October – November.

Trash Hero Indonesia volunteers clean up with a local school at their family meeting in Bali, May 2019

 

This time, alongside our usual activities, our chapter leaders learned how to carry out “brand audits” during their cleanups, recording the volume of the plastic packaging we regularly pick up, as well as the companies who manufacture it. The data collected over the coming year will be provided to our partner organisations, who can use it to push for systemic change in the production and disposal of single use plastic.

Members of the Break Free From Plastic coalition, who are driving corporate campaigns and global policy change, kindly joined us in Thailand to help with this important training, as we increasingly focus on connecting our communities’ experience of plastic pollution to the bigger picture.

The Break Free From Plastic team helped to train our Thai volunteers in Khao Lak, May 2019

 

Below are some video highlights from the recent events in Southeast Asia and Czech Republic, created entirely by the volunteers who attended them.


[Czech language only]

In total, 213 chapter leaders from 93 locations were able to join this series of family meetings – more than 90% of our global network. The total cost for all six meetings (the majority of which last 2 – 3 full days) was under $29,500, or around $138 per volunteer. This includes travel, accommodation and food for all participants, including the Trash Hero World team and external speakers. We are very grateful for the many hours of work donated in kind, as well as the monetary donations, that allow us to organise these events and continue investing in our volunteers and the amazing work they are doing around the world.

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SeemaPutting volunteers first

Sorting and separating in Tumapel

by Seema on 21/05/2019 No comments

Trash Hero Tumapel in Indonesia visits schools like this one, MI Roudlotul Jannah, to share the Trash Hero story and spread the word about how easy it is to reduce plastic waste.

Here, they also did a cleanup with the children around their village and they report the kids were super enthusiastic both when picking up the trash and then separating it to take to the local waste bank later. It certainly looks like it was a fun day. Great work everyone!

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SeemaSorting and separating in Tumapel

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.

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SeemaBag yourself the new Tasini x Trash Hero turtle

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

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Rima AgustinaTrash Hero attends Clean World Conference 2019

Surviving and thriving after a disaster

by Seema on 11/12/2018 No comments

Only 2 square kilometres in size, the “Robinson Crusoe” paradise of Gili Meno is the smallest of the three Gili Islands off the coast of Lombok in Indonesia.

It was here, in February 2015, that Trash Hero Gili Meno was founded. Fringed by an idyllic white sand beach around its entire perimeter, the island was under attack on all sides from floating ocean plastic. And, as is common on the archipelago, there was no waste management infrastructure, and no space for landfill, so islanders used open burning as the means of disposing of their trash.

Within a couple of years, the Trash Hero Gili Meno team had motivated their fellow residents to find solutions to these problems. Every business on the island now supports the Sunday cleanups, which are also attended by most of the island’s children.

The growing passion for zero waste among chapter leaders Sulman Alfarizi Ali and Samsul “Adi” Hadi [pictured, left] eventually lead them to give up their full time jobs in tourism earlier this year and found the Brotherhood Recycling and Education Centre. Now they work on improving their community’s waste management, focusing on reduction, reuse and recycling.

The entire Brotherhood Centre is made from salvaged waste, from the bottle walls, to can and plastic bag decorations. Workshops are held to teach people recycling skills, such as how to turn empty bottles into drinking glasses by hand, using low-tech tools; any broken glass is crushed and turned into building material.

Bamboo straws and cleaning brushes are produced from locally grown plants and sold to local bars to replace plastic.

Their ecobrick initiative offers islanders rice in exchange for plastic bottles filled with non-recyclable trash, which provides an incentive not to burn the toxic material. The bottles are then used in construction projects around the community.

“I really want to look after my island,” says Sulman. “I felt that on Gili Meno sometimes we just look at money only. It was sad for me to see that everywhere there was trash and plastic, and people burning it. I think soon nobody is going to visit any more and then the money is gone… so better we clean and take care and then everyone will want to come to this beautiful place. We make it sustainable.

“Trash Hero does not give us any money but we get a lot of training and support from them. And things like t-shirts, books and bottles help to promote our activities and motivate the people to join us.”

In August 2018, a series of devastating earthquakes hit Indonesia, with the 7.0 magnitude tremor on the evening of Sunday 5 August ravaging the Gili Islands and northern Lombok. The death toll from these events, including the aftershocks that continued for weeks after, stands at 563; and more than 400,000 people lost their homes in the disaster.

In Gili Meno, around 75% of the infrastructure was destroyed.

“The earthquake had a huge detrimental effect on the island, not only in terms of buildings, but people lost their livelihoods because there was no tourism. But the local community did not for one second give up. In order to get the tourists back, and in order to maintain a sense of routine for their kids and their lives, they decided to keep the island clean – to make sure not only the tourists could enjoy it, but the local community as well,” explains Sarah Kursheed, a dive instructor based on the island.

So the Trash Hero Sunday cleanups went on and became a focus for the community rebuilding process. Life slowly got back to normal.

The community even participated in World Cleanup Day on 15 September 2018, with the support of Trash Hero, though many were still living in makeshift camps.

“Since after the earthquake it is a little hard for us,” admits Adi. “We have to start from the beginning, but slowly we will grow again and do more.”

Watch how Trash Hero Gili Meno is regenerating their island in the aftermath of the Indonesian earthquakes:

 

Trash Hero World co-founder, Roman Peter, visited the island in November 2018 and was amazed at the spirit he found. “It’s inspirational to me how they have got through this disaster together. It was especially moving to see how the Trash Hero activities gave the kids some much needed structure after the trauma of losing their homes. The focus on reducing and reusing waste is stronger than ever and we will do everything we can to support them in this.”

See for yourself in the resulting short movie, above: filmed entirely on site in November, mere months after the earthquake, the strength and motivation of Trash Hero Gili Meno is an inspiration to us all.

Hopefully, it is also clear from the video that the island is once again open for tourists, and is as safe and beautiful as ever – go visit and be amazed!

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SeemaSurviving and thriving after a disaster

Sharing, learning and networking at the Family Meetings

by Seema on 07/12/2018 1 comment

“Gained new knowledge.”
“Sharing insight and ideas.”
“We know that we are not alone!”

That was just some of the feedback from our recent series of “Trash Hero Family Meetings” held in Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia this autumn 2018.

These twice-yearly events bring together our local chapter leaders from each country with the Trash Hero World team, external speakers and like minded local NGOs, for three days of workshops, education sessions, informal networking and above all boosting our energy as a movement.

Although each country’s agenda is different, certain elements are the same: we have a “leaders’ academy” for new chapters to learn the ropes of weekly cleanups, the bottle program and so on, with our in-country mentor teams; advanced sessions on particular aspects of our work, for example quality standards or public speaking; and an education day where we meet others doing similar work, to network and learn from their experience.

Logistics for the events are entirely covered by our donations, so no volunteers need be out of pocket for accommodation, food or travel; we pay expenses for actual costs, rather than per diem. Of course, all the work of organising the meetings is done for free, by more of our volunteers (special thanks to Nan, Ulli, Rima and Fancy!); and no speakers are paid.

In Thailand, we stayed at Ban Sabai Hostel in Bangkok from 19 – 21 October; in Malaysia at Langkawi Dormitorio from 27 – 29 October; and in Indonesia at Michi Retreat, Kememai Hostel and Lagas Hostel in Ubud, Bali from 2 – 4 November: our thanks to them, our venue hosts Frangipani Resort (Langkawi) and Museum of Marketing (Bali), and our other sponsors for their support. A full report, with accounting, will follow in the New Year.

For the first time since we started the Family Meetings in 2016, we sent out a multilingual online feedback survey to follow up on participants’ experience of the event.

From the 44% of attendees who replied, we had an overwhelming endorsement for the meetings, with on average 98.4% of respondents saying they were satisfied or very satisfied with the outcomes.

There were also some helpful comments and great ideas about how to improve for next time, including moving the venues to different areas for chapters to “host”; more outdoor activities, such as joint “model” cleanups; and earlier communication of the agenda.

As technology is always a barrier to participation in Southeast Asia, we will also ensure there is an offline version of the survey available at the next meetings in April – May 2019, to enable higher participation.

Let’s round up with some of the comments from the survey.

“I am very happy, I get many new friends, new information. Later the information that I got, I will practice.”
“The information on WtE [Waste to Energy] and how other chapters run was very valuable. We know that we are not alone to solve problems.”
“It is really nice to meet all of the people who are working on this together. It makes you feel like you are not alone in this battle.”

See you next time!

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SeemaSharing, learning and networking at the Family Meetings

Sanur’s little heroes!

by Seema on 08/10/2018 No comments

Sanur Independent School in Bali found our kids’ book via the daughter of Julia, one of our local volunteers, who brought it into school.

They read the story aloud in class and were so inspired by the story and pictures, they invited Julia to come along and give a talk about ocean plastics and what they could do to help. She explained about different types of rubbish, the effects of plastic on health and wildlife, ocean gyres, different ways to reduce waste, and how they can be activists and join the Trash Hero movement.

“They loved it and asked loads of questions!” she said.

They then did a cleanup together and all the kids in grade 1- 2 wrote a story about what they can do to help with the rubbish problem.

Thank you Julia and the Sanur Trash Hero Kids! You are awesome!

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SeemaSanur’s little heroes!