What keeps Trash Hero volunteers organising regular cleanups year round? Perhaps the secret lies in our regular Trash Hero Family Meetings. Here, our chapter teams can network, share and better understand the “why” behind our actions. It’s an intense and often deep experience. As one volunteer from Thailand put it: “there is no other seminar as worthwhile to the soul and to the world“.
These meetings bring volunteers together for 3 days of:
- knowledge building: workshops and presentations on the issues surrounding plastic pollution
- skill strengthening: building capacity for community leadership
- boosting motivation: creating positive energy and inspiration through sharing and connecting with others
This year’s Family Meetings, held in Indonesia and Thailand, centred around a fundamental question: why do we do cleanups?
The answer – which is not necessarily what people expect – shaped the rest of the content: to provide education about zero waste and build community engagement.
- Workshops encouraged volunteers to think critically about waste. We explored the big picture, understanding that litter is just a symptom of a larger systemic problem.
- Informative presentations shared new knowledge about the impact plastic has on the climate and our health.
- Group sessions looked at building trust in communities, leadership skills and effective communication.
- Games and quizzes helped keep everyone energised while also reinforcing the learning material.
- A group cleanup showed the possibility for education, best practices and (in Indonesia) a brand audit.
The Indonesian gathering saw almost 60 participants travel from all corners of the country to Sanur, Bali from 31 May – 2 June.
In Thailand, the event took place from 7 – 9 June in Bangkok. It brought together participants from across Southeast Asia, including Thailand, Malaysia, Cambodia, Vietnam and Myanmar. Sessions took place in parallel in Thai and English, with volunteers happily mingling during the breaks and cleanup activity. As one volunteer from Malaysia said “language was no barrier at all when you feel and see the same things”
The sessions with guest speakers, leadership coaches Pak Made Pay (Indonesia) and Khun Amnat (Thailand), proved very popular, with their insights into team building and the qualities needed for effective leadership. Thank you to both for sharing their wisdom, which will no doubt have an impact on our chapter teams. We hope to provide similar training to all volunteers soon.
Following the meetings, we sent out a feedback survey to all participants and the response was overwhelmingly positive. 100% of volunteers who replied felt more knowledgeable about both zero waste and plastic pollution, and 96% felt their motivation increased. One volunteer from Thailand commented: “the event made me know more about plastic waste, from the source to the solutions, with activities that connect people from different regions.”
Trash Hero World fully supports the family meetings, covering the travel, food, accommodation costs for all participants. We also handle the logistics and content design, creation and delivery.
In July, volunteers from Trash Hero in Switzerland and Germany will hold a zero waste picnic to celebrate their hard work and support new chapter leaders. The shared experiences, the learning and the connections – these are the things that keep us all motivated in our mission to create a world free from plastic pollution.
Let’s keep the momentum going.
Trash Hero Indonesia Family Meeting 31 May – 2 June
Location: Sanur, Bali
Participants: 57
Chapters: 27
Trash Hero Family Meeting Thailand 7-9 June
Location: Bangkok, Thailand
Participants: 40
Chapters: 22
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