At the very heart of Trash Hero, and indeed the driving force of it, are our volunteers. Every week hundreds of people across the world come together to help clean, educate, and work towards change within the communities they cherish. Trash Hero is formed of over 170 chapters and hundreds of volunteers who are dedicated to fighting plastic pollution.

One of the highlights of our year is the opportunity to gather together our volunteers by hosting ‘Trash Hero Family Meetings.’ This is where we come together, in our core countries of activity, to brainstorm ideas about zero waste, identify work to be done and to celebrate and thank those who have been organising cleanups and educational activities. It is a fantastic opportunity for volunteers to meet other like-minded individuals and allows lifelong connections and friendships to be formed.

It is also our opportunity to learn from them, as their local knowledge is invaluable and is used to inform our programmes and the way in which we work. Over the past two years we have had to move these gatherings online, which has seen record numbers of attendance but ultimately could not match the energy of an in-person event.

So, as restrictions started to ease at the end of 2021, we decided to offer our volunteers the opportunity to host their own mini family meeting within their local chapter. These team-building events, which we called “Chapter Family Meetings”, were funded by Trash Hero World. The chapters were given a budget and guidelines, but each had the freedom to plan whatever they felt would be a suitable celebration for them.

It was amazing to see the incredible ideas they came up with: camping trips; inviting community leaders to discuss reducing plastic in the area; mountain hikes; coffee meetings; lobbying to reduce single-use plastic; open discussions and brainstorming for future plans. Every event was filled with inspiration, community spirit, a passion for the natural world, and, of course, all were planned as zero waste events.

 

Here are a few highlights from the Chapter Family Meetings:

Trash Hero Mas

Trash Hero Mas has conducted over 75 cleanups since November 2020! They used the Chapter Family Meeting as an opportunity to open a conversation about zero waste with their village leaders – one of which is the Kepala Desa – and the leaders of local youth organisations. In Indonesia the Kepala Desa is the ‘head of the village’ and is an extremely influential and highly respected member of the community. These leaders have the power to implement and encourage change in their villages and can assist with finding real, long-term, solutions. By inviting them to take part and learn about our work, Trash Hero Mas have taken an important first step towards their goal of a zero waste village. The leaders have now agreed to support their activities. 

Trash Hero Perlis

Trash Hero Perlis is located in Malaysia and was started in 2019. Since then they have conducted over 90 clean ups, removing over 33,000 kg of trash! For the chapter family meeting they organised a memorable camping trip. The agenda included: looking at ways to reward their volunteers, expanding their core team and how to improve outreach and promote ideas of zero waste. This was all done against a stunning backdrop with some fun activities. The event provided a great opportunity to bond while also conjuring up ideas to achieve their goals.

Trash Hero Pejarakan

Trash Hero Pejarakan is located in Indonesia and has been running regular cleanups and activities since 2019. For their Chapter Family Meeting they decided to take some youth groups on a trip through the mangroves. Mangroves are an essential part of the ecosystem and face many threats, one being increasing plastic pollution. Using traditional boats they toured the mangroves learning about the important role that they play.

This was a fantastic and educational tour that ended with a plastic-free snack and drinking water from a refillable water tank (rather than individual plastic bottles!) It was also a treat for the Trash Hero Kids that join the cleanup activities regularly, helping to reignite their passion for protecting our natural world.

Trash Hero Sukawati

Trash Hero Sukawati is located in Indonesia and was set up in November 2020 – already completing over 60 clean ups! For their Chapter Family Meeting they decided to look at how you can reduce waste in the kitchen. They found one of the key things is using local ingredients that are readily available and don’t come wrapped in plastic. Pak Imam Budaya, the chapter leader, was able to introduce these ideas to his team and their families while cooking together. He shared his passion for zero waste and, during the meal they prepared, they discussed future plans and goals. Cooking and eating together always brings joy!

So far the Chapter Family Meetings have taken place in 5 countries – Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Czech Republic and The Netherlands and here are the numbers of how many chapters and people have taken part:

Indonesia: 43 chapters with 464 adults and 172 kids 

Thailand: 8 chapters with 49 adults and 16 kids 

Malaysia: 4 chapters with 53 adults and  4 kids

Czech Republic: 2 chapters with 17 adults

The Netherlands: 1 chapter with 15 adults and 2 kids

Overall, the idea of these events has been well-received by our chapters. They enjoyed both the opportunity to be creative and the benefits brought to their volunteers. We can’t wait to see what celebrations the remaining chapters come up with and what will be done next year – as this will now be a regular fixture.

Read more about what Trash Hero has been doing in our Annual Report 2021