Trash Hero Kids’ Programme

A better environmental future requires better environmental awareness for future generations. In other words, you have to engage children! And as of 31 December 2023, 137,882 kids have joined our Action & Awareness programmes.

What’s the idea? Trash Hero education is all about hands-on, experiential learning. Our kids’ story book, launched in May 2018, provides the material to engage children and then motivate them to complete a series of challenges to clean and reduce waste in their everyday lives. The repeated actions lead to rewards such as the coveted Trash Hero t-shirt – and, hopefully, to long-term behavioural change.

What kind of actions are we talking about? Kids get points for joining cleanups in their neighbourhoods (run by Trash Hero or others), for using alternatives to single use plastic bottles and bags, for refusing plastic straws, and for recycling and upcycling. The activities are done as a class or community group so there is plenty of motivation, as well as room for healthy competition among the children!

How can poor communities afford to pay for the programme? The materials, including the printed books and t-shirts, are all provided free of charge to local schools and community groups in Southeast Asia. This is made possible through donations and, recently, a crowdfunding campaign.  The activities themselves will be supervised by teachers or volunteers in our local chapters and are intentionally low resource.

Are there any other educational activities you do? In actual fact, all of our programmes have an educational aspect to them! But we regularly host local schools at our cleanups; we also distribute educational posters and videos; and make multimedia presentations at schools about how garbage impacts beaches and sea life. Trash Hero kids have taken part in making personal videos with the World Story Exchange, including videos about how garbage effects their communities.

On this website, we also have a dedicated section for kids, with a number of resources designed for children to learn about waste and how they can help.

Can you come to my child’s school? Depending on your location, yes. Volunteers may be able to conduct presentations at your local school. Click here here to see useful documentaries and educational videos, along with printable material for kids and adults, and be sure to email us at kids@trashhero.org to tell us your success story!

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OTHER PROGRAMMES –> Water bottle refill network
Weekly Cleanups