Trash Hero

Who is trash hero? Trash Hero is a global volunteer movement, led, supported and governed by Trash Hero World.

What do they do? At its heart is a growing grassroots network of unincorporated, community-based organisations, that run programs to collect trash all around the world.

In which countries are they active? Currently, the network extends to 14 countries around the world: Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Czech Republic, Serbia, Austria, Switzerland, Poland, the Netherlands, Germany and Japan.

Why does Green Steps collaborate with Trash Hero? Green Steps is an environmental organization with a focus on place-based education that has been running monthly clean ups together with children with a program called Plastic Pirates. Green Steps has collected more than one ton of trash in St. Pölten, Austria.

How do we collaborate?
Green Steps has similar goals like Trash Heroes: we clean, recycle and care for nature. Our world is not a trash bin, and we must not treat it like one. We are proud to be the first Austrian organization to collaborate with trash hero. We share our results with Trash Hero Switzerland, to keep track of the kg of trash that we have collected and the positive impact that we have on our Planet.

Leire’s thoughts and experience.
I think it’s very important to teach not to throw trash in nature, since most plastic waste isn’t biodegradable and even if some people would say it will disappear, that’s not true, it just breaks down into smaller pieces. Most trash ends up in the ocean, kills animals and destroys ecosystems. We need to stop it. If we all picked up a little here and there, the world would be cleaner but we also need to develop the right attitude. I come from Spain, and every time I walk my dog around my hometown, I bring with me a trash bag and gloves. I even find it fun to do it. Working as a volunteer in Creu Roja (Red Cross) in Spain has made me find kind-hearted friends and more than one reason to keep fighting for a better and cleaner space.

Jaba’s thoughts and experience.
Plastic Pirates was my first experience of trash collection. First of all, it was a great feeling that you were doing something good, like taking care of nature and cleaning it from pollution, and I felt proud of that. Even if it was not that big of an impact, everything starts with small details, and even a small action can make a change.
It was also a very interesting activity because after collecting trash, we separated it and had a talk about the trash that we found. All of this made me think about doing the same activity in my home country (Georgia) when I go back, and not just me! I want to motivate others to do the same thing in different regions to clean our country and world from trash. In Georgia, we don’t do this kind of activity, but I think it is very important if someone will start and be the pioneer.

Further reading:
- https://trashhero.org/
- https://www.greensteps.me/library/plastic-pirates.php