Waste Disposal | Trash Hero World

Launch of Trash Hero @Work Program

by Amelia Meier on 17/12/2016 No comments

17 December 2016 – Trash Hero Word & GKS Architekten + Partner AG

We have just launched the @Work program in cooperation with the architectural office GKS Architekten + Partner AG from Lucerne, Switzerland . The aim of the program is to reduce office waste to a minimum, and our project creates a solid basis for this. The 50 employees of the awesome architectural office GKS Architekten + Partner rang in a new era by committing themselves to the zero-waste philosophy, and will be doing everything they can to reduce their internal waste.

In a first step, team members examined the trash they as a company were producing daily. They estimated that they were using 2,600 disposable plastic dishes, 3,200 glas bottles, and around one ton of paper per year. Since this company takes corporate social responsibility seriously, they are all wenn under way to going zero waste: they will be avoiding trash wherever possible, strictly separating, and will try to use recyclable materials. To eliminate drinking bottles every GKS employee received a personalised Trash Hero bottle made of stainless steel as a Christmas present.

We are grateful for this amazing collaboration with GKS! Other corporations have already voiced interest as well, and we hope to inspire many more businesses to implement sustainable changes in the future! Read the full press release here.

Let’s STOP Plastic Pollution

by Amelia Meier on 20/11/2016 No comments

20 November 2016 – Trash Hero World

There is no way around it: We need to Break Free From Plastic. Today our team in Trash Hero Amed, Indonesia was saddened to find the above picture when they went to the beach. This is worse than what it usually is.

Let’s all be a part of the change and contribute to stopping plastic pollution!

We are collaborating with the following organisations on this:

Plastic Soup Foundation International
Plastic Change
Let’s do it World
ROLE Foundation Charity Auction
Marine Conservation Society
Zero Waste Europe

Happy Birthday Trash Hero Langkawi

by Amelia Meier on 17/10/2016 2 comments

October 17, 2016 – Trash Hero Langkawi (Malaysia) Celebrating One Year of Cleanups

Happy Birthday Trash Hero Langkawi, Malaysia. In the past year 42 cleanups have taken place, during which a total of 780 people volunteered to help and picked up 12’217 kg of trash.

Most importantly, many wonderful connections were made and a lot of young people could be reached in order to educate them about littering, burning trash, and how our daily lives affect this planet we live on.

All photos of the birthday event can be viewed here.

OceanCare and Trash Hero World

by Amelia Meier on 08/10/2016 No comments

8 October 2016 – New Collaboration with OceanCare

Our latest collaboration is with the amazing people from OceanCare. The organization has been committed to marine wildlife protection since 1989. Through research and conservation projects, campaigns, environmental education, and involvement in a range of important international committees, OceanCare undertakes concrete steps to improve the situation for wildlife in the world’s oceans. In 2011, OceanCare was granted Special Consultative Status on marine issues with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations. Through environmental education, OceanCare encourages a rethinking of our attitude towards plastic and urges people not to use disposable plastic.

The organisation cooperates with Trash Hero World and supports their various beach cleaning activities.OceanCare analyses the dynamics of micro- and macroplastic pollution at sea and has, on an international level, campaigned for a ban on particularly noxious plastics and on the use of microplastic in cosmetics.

Trash Heroes at the Wasserart

by Amelia Meier on 08/10/2016 No comments

10 October 2016 – Trash Hero Portraits on Show

The Atelier Wasserart in Dettenheim (Germany) is a place dedicated to all things surrounding water. The Atelier is currently showcasing stories of Trash Heroes from all around the world, in the hopes that visitors will go away determined to reduce their own consumption of plastics.

Sponsor Update 2016 (Part II): Community Waste Management in Amed

by Amelia Meier on 26/09/2016 No comments

September 26, 2016 – Trash Hero Amed, Indonesia

Another project we discussed in our newsletter to sponsors released this week is the community waste management that Trash Hero World supported with 1’200 USD in Amed, Indonesia. Historically, in small and rural communities trash and other waste is burned – but this system is no longer viable in many areas of the world. The system simply cannot cope with the never-ending volume and the amount of plastic and other toxins in modern waste makes burning and burying this garbage potentially dangerous for animals, people and the environment.

As a region, effective waste management is a challenging process, but locally communities are taking it upon themselves to preserve their paradises. Trash Hero Amed, Indonesia has been actively cleaning the community weekly for over a year.

They’ve collaborated with a local non-profit, Peduli Alam, who has developed a collection system for non-organic waste, a service provided to the community free of charge. Peduli Alam has built and installed more than 200 public rubbish bins and another 350 individual bins across 700 families, local restaurants and schools. The waste is collected almost daily and transported by Peduli Alam to a regional sorting station and a landfill site. Trash Hero World supported Peduli Alam to finance a new truck so they can continue the waste removal service for the Amed community.

Sponsor Update 2016 (Part I): Trash Hero Bottles

by Amelia Meier on 26/09/2016 2 comments

September 26, 2016 – Trash Hero World

As we wrap up 2016, we wanted to reflect on the considerable progress made this year. This success was made possible by the many volunteers who help every week and by the generosity of donors.

The world’s mounting waste problem threatens public health, pollutes the environment and impairs development in poorer countries, and yet awareness of the scope of the problem is alarmingly low. Donations received this year have enabled Trash Hero World to launch sustainable, actionable programs to tackle those issues and ultimately change the behaviour toward waste management through awareness and education, notably in both Indonesia and Thailand.

One of these programs is the “Love Thailand Water Bottles” initiative, which Trash Hero World supported with USD 4’300. This program aims to sustainably reduce the amount of plastic bottles that end up on beaches. The bottles are sold for no profit to businesses in Thailand. The businesses sell it with a 3$ profit and in return agree to provide free drinking water refill for all Trash Hero bottles. More than 20’000 bottles have been sold since December 2014 by the communities of Koh Lipe, Koh Lanta and Chiang Mai.

Trash Hero World recently extended the project to nine additional locations in Thailand with a distribution of 1’500 bottles. We look to continue the program’s expansion to Indonesia as well. Bottle production requires two months, which is why an initial investment is necessary in order to make the bottles available to businesses. Once the bottles are sold the next order is placed.

Koh Tao for example bought 60 “Love Thailand” Bottles to convince businesses to participate and have now launched their own “Love Koh Tao” bottle with 15 participating businesses and 1’000 bottles.