New ‘#Trashtag’ Challenge Has People Across The Globe Picking Up Trash And The Difference It’s Making Is Brilliant

There have been some pretty weird social media challenges in the past few years. On one hand, there are those that make a positive difference, such as the ice bucket challenge which raised a huge amount of money for charity.

On the other, there are a number of completely ridiculous and destructive ‘challenges’, like that one where people set themselves on fire at home and filmed it, for no apparent reason other than views. I guess you can’t fix stupid!

A more recent campaign that definitely falls into the ‘positive’ category is #trashtag, which sets people around the world the challenge of cleaning up their local beaches, parks, and garbage-strewn streets, and taking a before and after photo.

Did our part today for #trashtag while offroading in the mountains of California. via /r/pics https://t.co/1duo3B8pnJ created by: https://t.co/HP3Iew3S7L pic.twitter.com/WRD5sAsiwz

— Steben Stupid (@steben316) March 11, 2019

The concept of #trashtag has been around for years but it was over the weekend that it started to pick up momentum again, with people posting their cleaning-up accomplishments to their social media platforms.

Perhaps the campaign’s resurgence is down to the recent media spotlight that has been shed on issues such as plastic waste and pollution. Whatever the reason is, it’s certainly a great things to see. I think this is exactly the kind of thing we need – less focus on ourselves, and more focus on doing good for the local community.

I don't have a before-and-after picture, but here's a couple of pictures of me with my family picking up trash from the road side whenever we made a rest stop. #trashtag pic.twitter.com/TygYf2dM13

— Adhiti (@frizhbee) March 10, 2019

The craze called on ‘bored teens’ around the world to get involved and, as word began to spread, so did #trashtag. It’s not just teens who are encouraged to get involved, obviously – people of all ages can make a difference, simply by caring for their local area.

The campaign is particularly popular in rural areas. As they uploaded their pictures, many people also included an explanation as to why cleaning up areas of natural beauty is so crucial.

Taking to Instagram, Cody Hanson explained: “It’s the only outdoors we have. We all use it for many different things but it is the only one we have. So let’s all do our part and treat it with respect.

“Let’s pick up after ourselves and then pick up extra. It only takes a few minutes of your time to pick up something that’ll far outlast us humans if left alone.”

I couldn’t agree more, and I am 100% behind this campaign. Even if you don’t feel the need to share your before-and-after snaps on social media, the important thing is actually doing the work. Tackling the problem of plastic waste and pollution requires all of us to take part and make an effort. And just imagine how good you’ll feel afterwards!

Tackling environmental issues is not just about big fancy political meetings such as the G20, or stricter regulations – although those things are certainly important – it’s also about getting involved and making a difference at a local level. We have more control over our own back yard than we do over anywhere else, so let’s start there!

Have any of you guys done the #trashtag challenge yet? Let us know in the comments! It’s be great if you have a photo to show us.

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