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

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Leslie FinlayThe Whale Company Paddles with Trash Heroes

Trash Hero Expands to 52 Chapters Globally

by Leslie Finlay on 22/02/2018 No comments

It’s true that not all heroes wear capes. In fact, many of them wear yellow – more than 63,000 of them to be exact!

Until the end of 2017, 52 Trash Hero chapters around the world rallied 63,098 volunteers who removed more than 408,137 kilograms of waste from our beaches, waterways, and communities. Reports estimate that most of this debris would inevitably find its way to the ocean, where it accumulates en masse and is much more difficult to remove from the environment. Much of this waste our heroes removed is plastic, which scientists agree never truly degrades but fragments into smaller and smaller bits, sustaining within the world’s ecosystems for thousands of years. Plastic of any size can be ingested by wildlife, killing the animal or cycling chemicals into the food chain.

That’s why our Trash Heroes didn’t stop at participating in 2,459 cleanups, but made active efforts to live a more sustainable, zero-waste lifestyle that eliminates trash from entering the ecosystem in the first place. More than 44,900 reusable water bottles were sold at over 256 participating businesses, saving an estimated 16-million single-use plastic bottles; 5,400 Trash Hero reusable bags were also sold, reducing single-use plastic bag use by at least 540,000 by some estimates.

 

Our heroes also spoke at three TEDx Talks around the world, relaying their own stories about the impact of waste in their communities and the importance of moving toward a waste-free lifestyle. Trash Hero is committed to active waste management and removal, but our mission encompasses the importance of education – spreading the attitude of sustainability. In fact, about 14,206 of our heroes in 2017 were kids, whose involvement is an enormous bright spot and the key to a cleaner future.

All in all, 2017 was an exciting year for us! Will you be joining the yellow-shirted heroes this year? Get in touch to find out how!

A breakdown of our 2017 numbers:

  • 52 active chapters in 9 countries – Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Myanmar, USA, Czech Republic, Switzerland, China, Singapore
  • 63,098 heroes attended 2,459 cleanups, removing 208,137 kilograms of trash from the environment
  • 14,206 of those heroes were kids
  • 44,900 reusable bottles were sold at 256 participating businesses – this means that more than 16 million plastic bottles were not produced
  • 5,400 Trash Hero reusable bags were sold, keeping 540,000 single-use plastic bags out of the environment
  • Speakers at 3 TEDx Talks spread the philosophy of sustainability and zero-waste to their communities at large

THANK YOU to all of our incredible heroes, and we hope to see you in 2018!

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Leslie FinlayTrash Hero Expands to 52 Chapters Globally

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.

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Leslie FinlayTrash Hero Koh Samui: A Growing Community

The Trash Hero Kids Book: On to Phase 2!

by Leslie Finlay on 08/12/2017 No comments

With your generous support, we have made it through the first stage of our project! Reaching the 8000 euro target means we can now CONFIRM that the Trash Hero Kids book will be printed, distributed and taught to kids in Thailand and Indonesia.

Now we aim to extend the project’s impact to include even more kids! Since starting the project, we have had interest from our teams in Myanmar and Malaysia to create local language versions of the project, as well as requests for more books in Thailand.

We still have a few more days to take this project even further. So let’s keep this momentum and continue to raise funds so your contribution has even more impact!

The Trash Hero Kids Book is a story and activity book with a powerful call to take action on plastic waste in the environment. Children will be inspired and challenged to change their behaviour, and receive incentives like the coveted Trash Hero T-shirt as a reward.

The book and shirt package will be distributed free to children in Southeast Asia, where plastic pollution is reaching critical proportions. Awareness of the issue in Southeast Asia remains low, and education is limited or not put into practice. Children are taught “don’t litter” at school, but don’t seem to make any connection between these words and their everyday habits. The real life consequences of plastic leakage are rarely explored; and there are no positive role models or clear paths to drive behaviour change.

The labour and skills overheads for this project – like all Trash Hero projects – is ZERO. Our dedicated volunteers have already prepared the book and its translations; and more volunteers in our local chapters stand ready to oversee the distribution and activities.
That means that every single Euro you donate will be spent on creating the physical products to put into the hands of children.

Contributions can be made at either of these sites:

https://www.100-days.net/…/projekt/trashhero-children-s-bookor https://www.paypal.me/TrashHeroWorld

Help us make our holiday dreams come true and reach even more kids!

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Leslie FinlayThe Trash Hero Kids Book: On to Phase 2!

Trash Hero at ASEAN Conference on Reducing Marine Debris

by Leslie Finlay on 27/11/2017 No comments

Last week, Trash Hero was among representatives from across Southeast Asia to attend the first ever ASEAN Conference on Reducing Marine Debris. Members of regional and international NGOs, academics, governmental bodies, private companies, and the UN Environmental Programme gathered in Phuket, Thailand to “share experiences, best practices, and views on tackling marine debris issues,” according to General Surasak Karnjarat, the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment of Thailand. The exhibition and panel discussions celebrated the rich marine biodiversity of the ASEAN region and focused on the development of innovative policy and management solutions.

Trash Hero on display at the first ever ASEAN Conference on Reducing Marine Debris

Members of the Trash Hero family were invited to present global chapter successes and initiatives, including the continual growth of grassroots clean ups, the production and use of Ecobricks, and the development of our greatly anticipated Trash Hero kid’s book. An interview series featuring our own Trash Heroes was also produced to be shown at an upcoming UN meeting.

Trash Hero was invited to present about its mission and work to reduce marine debris globally, from a community-oriented perspective

Our own Frida Ongre, who spoke on behalf of Trash Hero at the conference, said that there was an incredible energy and eagerness of participants to learn more about Trash Hero and its mission – in fact, one of the most common questions she got was “is there a chapter where I live?”

You can check out our current list of chapters here. Don’t have a chapter presence in your area? No problem! It’s easier than you think to get started. Check out our how-to guide written by the heroes themselves based on their experiences.

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Leslie FinlayTrash Hero at ASEAN Conference on Reducing Marine Debris

แทรชฮีโร่ เปิดแคมเปญระดมทุนเป็นครั้งแรก

by Leslie Finlay on 02/11/2017 No comments

การศึกษาเป็นสิ่งสำคัญในการสร้างพฤติกรรมอันยั่งยืน แต่เราก็อยากบอกเด็ก ๆ ด้วยว่า การเป็นแทรชฮีโร่นั้น เป็นเรื่องสนุก!
และนั่นคือแรงบันดาลใจของเราในการสร้างสรรค์โครงการล่าสุด : หนังสือเด็กแทรชฮีโร่

หนังสือภาพอันสวยงาม เล่าเรื่องการต่อสู้ของเด็ก ผู้ได้ชื่อว่า “แทรชฮีโร่/ผู้พิชิตขยะ” ซึ่งอุทิศตนให้กับการช่วยเหลือเหล่าสิ่งมีชีวิตใต้ท้องทะเลให้หลบหนีจากขยะ และสถานการณ์อันเลวร้ายเมื่อขยะพลาสติกในมหาสมุทรเพิ่มขึ้นเรื่อย ๆ เขาได้รับการช่วยเหลือจากเพื่อน ๆ ในโรงเรียน ที่สัญญาว่าจะช่วยกันทำความสะอาดและลดการสร้างขยะ เพื่อให้งานของเขาง่ายขึ้น

แต่แค่เพียงสอนเรื่องคุณธรรมนั้นอาจไม่พอ : หนังสือจึงท้าทายให้ผู้อ่านได้ลงมือทำจริงด้วย โดยมีกิจกรรมที่พวกเขาสามารถลงมือทำได้ เช่น การเก็บขยะ, การใช้ถุงหรือขวดน้ำที่ใช้แล้วใช้ซ้ำได้, หรือการสร้างมูลค่าเพิ่มให้เศษวัสดุต่าง ๆ เพื่อช่วย แทรชฮีโร่ และได้รับรางวัล เช่น เสื้อยืด และประกาศนียบัตร เพื่อบอกให้โลกรู้ว่า พวกเขาก็เป็น “แทรชฮีโร่/ผู้พิชิตขยะ” เช่นกัน

หนังสือนี้จะแจกฟรีให้กับโรงเรียนและชุมชน โดยความร่วมมือของกลุ่มแทรชฮีโร่ทั่วประเทศ และกิจกรรมนั้นต้องทำซ้ำหลายครั้ง ก่อนจะได้รับรางวัล เพื่อกระตุ้นและสร้างแรงบันดาลใจให้เด็ก ๆ เปลี่ยนพฤติกรรม โดยได้รับการสนับสนุนและสรรเสริญจากชุมชนของพวกเขา

เพื่อทำให้โครงการอันสำคัญนี้เกิดขึ้นได้ เราต้องการความช่วยเหลือจากคุณ!

ในเบื้องต้นเราได้รับการสนับสนุนจากผู้ใหญ่ใจดี กล้วยน้ำไทมูลนิธิ ในการจัดพิมพ์หนังสือฉบับภาษาไทย แต่เรายังคงต้องการทำเสื้อยืดแจกให้แก่เด็ก ๆ ที่สามารถทำกิจกรรมนี้ได้สำเร็จ เพื่อเป็นแทรชฮีโร่คนใหม่อีกด้วย

นอกจากนี้ เรายังจะพิมพ์หนังสือในฉบับภาษาอังกฤษและภาษาอินโดนีเซียด้วย

โดยเรายังต้องการเงินอีกจำนวน 8,000 ยูโร หรือ 320,000 บาท เพื่อพิมพ์หนังสือ 3,000 ชุด และทำเสื้อให้แก่เด็ก ๆ

หน้าเพจสำหรับโครงการระดมทุน (เว็บในต่างประเทศ) : https://www.100-days.net/en/projekt/trashhero-children-s-book/project
หรือคุณสามารถบริจาคเป็นเงินบาทได้โดยผ่าน PayPal ที่ https://www.paypal.me/trashheroworld
เงินบริจาคเหล่านี้จะได้ผลแก่เด็ก ๆ ในไทย

ท่านสามารถช่วยบริจาคได้ และ/หรือช่วยกันแชร์โพสต์นี้ เพื่อให้เพื่อน ๆ คนอื่น ๆ ได้ร่วมบริจาคด้วย
ร่วมด้วยช่วยกัน เราสามารถสร้างแทรชฮีโร่/ผู้พิชิตขยะรุ่นใหม่ได้!

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โครงการหนังสือเด็กแทรชฮีโร่นี้ เป็นโครงการไม่หวังผลกำไร จัดทำโครงการผ่านการจดทะเบียนองค์กร แทรช ฮีโร่ เวิลด์ ในประเทศสวิตเซอร์แลนด์ และจัดพิมพ์หนังสือโดยใช้กระดาษรีไซเคิลทั้งหมด
ครู/อาจารย์ท่านใดสนใจเรื่องโครงการนี้ สามารถติดต่อแทรชฮีโร่ในพื้นที่ของท่านได้ โดยตรวจสอบได้ที่เว็บไซต์หรือเพจของแทรชฮีโร่ไทยแลนด์

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Leslie Finlayแทรชฮีโร่ เปิดแคมเปญระดมทุนเป็นครั้งแรก

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!

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Leslie FinlayTrash Heroes Join the International Coastal Cleanup

“Trash Monsters” at Wonderfruit Festival Dazzle and Inspire

by Leslie Finlay on 23/08/2017 1 comment

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.

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Leslie Finlay“Trash Monsters” at Wonderfruit Festival Dazzle and Inspire

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.

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Leslie Finlay12 Million Plastic Bottles Saved… and Counting

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/

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Leslie FinlayA Lasting Trash Hero Souvenir