Festivals in Netherlands to stop using single-use cups
After successful trials, reusable cups will soon be the new norm for Dutch festival-goers. Find out more about how this system will work and people’s reactions to it here
Trash Hero Luzern’s brand audit makes the news
Tele 1 reporters joined the volunteers at their 25th cleanup in the Swiss city. The team conducted a cleanup and a brand audit. A brand audit records information about the companies producing the plastic found at cleanups and contributes to global research on corporate polluters. The full video, currently only available in Swiss German, can be watched here
A policy 4 years in the making: India bans single-use plastics
A step in the right direction, but are communities and corporations ready for the change? This interesting analysis looks at how the ban is working in practice and its long term prospects.
After two and a half years of online meetings, this year we were finally able to have our Trash Hero Family Meetings in person!
Family Meetings are our regular volunteer training and team-building events that celebrate our chapters’ achievements and facilitate the exchange of knowledge, experience and skills that will benefit both their community and the wider Trash Hero mission.
Pre-pandemic they were held in person in our major countries of operation: Czech Republic, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Switzerland and Thailand.
In 2020 and 2021 we moved these meetings online, which allowed us to reach volunteers in other countries that had never previously attended a family meeting. They saw fantastic levels of attendance with 276 people in 18 different countries attending a series of online meetings in 2020. In 2021, 174 people from 15 different countries joined the Trash Hero global meeting, and Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Switzerland hosted their own Family Meetings. These meetings helped to keep our movement vibrant during a challenging period, but nothing could match the energy of in person discussion and interaction.
Once restrictions eased, many chapters held their own Chapter Family Meetings which allowed them to build their local teams and address the particular issues they face in their communities.
Then, finally in May, we were able to plan and host a full series of face-to-face meetings with our volunteers in Svatý Jan pod Skalou, Czech Republic (13 – 15th), Batu Buruk, Malaysia (13-15th), Bali, Indonesia (20 – 22nd) and Chumpon, Thailand (27 – 29th).
After reviewing feedback from past Family Meetings, and from our own experience of our 2020-21 zero waste training, this year in Asia we aimed to increase the levels of interaction within the meeting – facilitating more discussions and increasing knowledge sharing.
“I enjoyed the opportunity to plan together with team members, in order to properly divide tasks and have people help each other – [it] makes the job a lot more fun and easier.”
Nan – Trash Hero Ao Nang, Thailand
The meetings started with introductions: after 2 and a half years there were some new faces joining us! It was fantastic to finally meet people in person who we had previously only met on a screen.
Then it was time to get to work! We explored our values as a movement, cleanup organisation, strategic planning, social media best practices, brand audits and the big picture of waste. The volunteers got to know Trash Hero World and the work we do globally and there were also sessions where they could share their experiences of delivering programmes on the ground. This provides essential input that helps to shape the way in which we work and our activities moving forward.
One of the most popular workshops was strategic planning, guiding the leaders through ways to increase the influence of their chapters and how to get more people involved. This started with a presentation, then a session to put their knowledge into practice and create a long-term plan. We encouraged the chapter leaders to assess their current situation, set goals and create a step-by-step plan for achieving their aims.
As well as being an opportunity to share knowledge, the Family Meetings help our volunteers form connections with each other – creating a fantastic network of support and ideas. The friendships formed at the events last far beyond the three days spent together.
Each Family Meeting was organised as a zero waste event. People who attended brought their own reusable water bottles, or there were glasses for use, and refill stations were readily available. All food and drink was served with reusable tableware and snacks were wrapped in banana leaves. Across the 4 events we had 183 participants from 80 chapters. This means, based on a conservative estimate of each participant having 2 water refills a day, at least 1,098 single-use plastic bottles were prevented from being used.
In Czech Republic, the meeting was held in an idyllic location just outside of Prague. The team listened to lectures from guest speakers, discussed ideas and visited the Bohemian Karst Protected Landscape Area. From their guide, Pavel Skala, who joined the Family Meeting as a representative of the Třesina association, they learned about local butterflies. Other guest speakers were Martin Trávníček from the Pestré Polabí association and Arthur F Sniegon from the non-profit organisation Save Elephant. It was also great to see a large number of the volunteers at the Family Meeting were Trash Hero Kids!
The feedback we received and the knowledge we gained during the events help us create a stronger global Trash Hero Family and will be used to shape our programmes as we continue our fight against plastic waste.
Malaysia: 27 Participants, 13 Chapters
Czech Republic: 35 Participants, 8 Chapters
Indonesia: 88 Participants, 45 Chapters
Thailand: 33 Participants, 15 Chapters
“I increased my knowledge about how polluted and how threatened planet Earth is. The most important thing for me from this meeting is how honest and transparent financial management is in THI and THW. I also felt the family atmosphere that is so close between the participants.”
Plastic production is increasing, how can we – as concerned citizens- change this? We want to inspire you to make small changes and demand bigger ones so that globally we have a meaningful impact.
This World Refill Day (June 16th) we’re taking a closer look at refill and reuse and discovering why they are the key to reducing plastic pollution. We’ll share what we’ve been doing to support refill and show you how you can also make an impact with your actions. We’ll show you how to encourage the support of businesses who are providing refills, motivate you to examine the way products are sold and ultimately inspire you to integrate more refillables into your household and routine.
So why do we need to refill?
Currently, 380 million tonnes of plastics are produced each year 1, over half of which are single-use plastics 2 . Around 9% of this plastic gets recycled, with less than 2% being effectively recycled3. The rest is littered, landfilled, burned or shipped around the world for someone else to deal with. The sheer volume of waste being generated means even improved recycling is not a practical solution – even if plastic manufacturers would like us to think it is.
The only solution that we know works is to reduce the amount of plastic being produced, especially single-use plastic. Refill and reuse of containers and packaging is one of the easiest and most efficient ways to reduce the amount of plastic needed in the world. Making refill the norm can start at an individual level and then must be supported by the local business community, government infrastructure and eventually by big consumer goods companies.
The benefits of refill are not just limited to reducing plastic waste in the environment. Reducing plastic also has a positive climate impact by reducing CO2 emissions. Plastic production and use currently accounts for around 4% of global carbon emissions, more than the entire airline industry. Integrating more refills into your routine will also have a positive impact on your wallet. Refilling as much as you need rather than buying pre-packaged amounts often works out cheaper, as does refilling drinking water. Many businesses also offer discounts for people who bring their own containers for takeaway food and drink.
So what can I do as an individual?
Make refilling a habit
Think about your daily routine – where do you eat lunch? What items do you regularly buy in single-use plastic? Then try and find ways in which you can swap the single-use for reuse or refill.
The simplest way is to switch to a reusable water bottle. If you already own one, you can encourage others to do the same!
There are many places that offer free water refills, especially in countries where you can drink from the tap. Even in those where you can’t, local refill networks such as the one created by Trash Hero (see below) often exist to help people stay hydrated while avoiding single-use plastic.
To see the impact you have when using a refillable water bottle you can use our free Bottle Impact Calculator. Share your results online to inspire others – and don’t forget to tag us @trashheroworld!
It’s not just water bottles
Let’s remember, It’s not just water bottles that can be refilled and reused! You can bring your own reusable cups and containers at many takeaway places and markets and more and more stores are offering refills of day-to-day essentials such as toiletries, cleaning products and groceries.
Even without a local refill store you can still take action: try a reusable container for your lunch (home made or takeaway) and a thermos for your coffee. You don’t necessarily need to buy anything new to start this, there are things in our houses that will do the job! Old takeaway containers are great to reuse for a packed lunch and old jam jars are perfect for home-made instant noodles – there are endless options and ideas out there! Have a look through your cupboards and see what can be repurposed for your refill journey.
Reusable plates – Trash Hero Indonesia Family MeetingRefillable coffee, creamer and sugar – Trash Hero Indonesia Family MeetingReusable (and refillable!) cups – Trash Hero Indonesia Family Meeting
Start a conversation
Talking about refill and how easy it is helps to make the idea accessible and normal for people around you. Make it your aim to research as many places as possible in your local community that allow you to bring your own container for purchases, or ask your friends and neighbours if they have any recommendations for water refills or other reuse tips. Share your findings with your network so that others are encouraged to try.
If there isn’t currently any refill store in your area, maybe there is a friendly local business that you can approach. Try bringing your own cup or container and start a discussion or brainstorm ways in which they could trial refills in their stores. A conversation is the first step to changing behaviour and consumer feedback is extremely powerful.
Support businesses that care
As we’ve mentioned, your feedback as a consumer holds power. This isn’t just about refusing single-use plastic in bigger stores, but supporting those businesses that are offering refills. Be sure to tell them you love what they do, share their sites on social media and encourage others to go there too.
A great resource for refill and reuse programmes is the Living Landscape of Reduse Solutions database – it provides fantastic information about the different ways refill works to eliminate waste, as well as an up-to-date list of refill and reuse providers. You can use it for research or submit your favourite store to their database.
Demand change
It is important to remember that refill is not a new idea. In fact, not so long ago refill was the norm in most countries. For example, products such as milk and soft drinks were delivered in refillable glass bottles. It’s easy to revive these systems and even improve them with new technology and materials.
Whenever you hear a company talking about more or better recycling, remind them and those around you that the real solution is to reduce and reuse / refill. Only when they realise people understand the link between their products and pollution and climate change will they change their packaging and delivery systems.
It may feel overwhelming at times, but together we have the power to demand change and show commitment to that change in our daily habits and purchases.
So what are Trash Hero doing about refills?
The Trash Hero bottle refill programme offers a safe and affordable alternative to single-use plastic bottles. We provide stainless steel water bottles at cost price to local businesses, who then sell them on and provide free drinking water refills to any bottle owner. We have a network of more than 700 refill points, predominantly in Southeast Asia, but also in Czech Republic. A study looked at the impact of refilling the Trash Hero bottle alongside the equivalent number of single-use plastic water bottles and concluded: ‘As a direct comparison between packaging systems, the Trash Hero reusable bottle reduces your [CO2 emissions] by around 95% vs. single-use plastic.’ 4 To date, we have sold 102,470 bottles and estimate that 37 million plastic bottles have been avoided as a result of the programme.5
Another Trash Hero refill project saw us partner with Swiss cosmetics company, Schnarwiler AG, to launch a range of refillable beauty products with 100% natural ingredients. Essential items such as hand and body soap, shampoo, conditioner and body lotion are packaged in recycled glass bottles and refilled in local stores from bulk containers that are also washed and reused. Since the project started in 2018, the refill network has grown to 84 outlets and 11 hotels, including a popular national chain store, demonstrating that such projects can be implemented on a large scale. It is estimated that 52,882 plastic bottles (200ml) have been avoided thanks to refill.
We’d love to hear from you about your refill journey. Any great refill or reuse ideas that you’ve found helpful? Any stores in your area that you want people to know about? Share in the comments below or tag us on social media!
We are finding out what software everyone is using for Trash Hero work, and what they use it for.
We will collect the information and use it to make decisions about what software we need for our core teams across the world.
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