Trash Hero - making a difference

In 2013 two Swiss and three Thais had the idea of cleaning up a beach in Koh Lipe in Thailand. Due to the tsunami in 2004 the stream has changed and the beautiful beaches have been covered up in trash. PET bottles, plastic bags, flip flops and styrofoam have been washed up from various different places. In order to get rid off the rubbish at the beach the five guys met every monday and collected the waste for a couple of hours. As every week more people started to join them they eventually decided to incorporate their own organization called „Trash Hero“.

All the „Trash Heroes“ (locals and tourists) meet once a week in order to free beaches from trash. The engagement of the project is mainly based in Thailand. But as the organization has grown rapidly during the last couple of years they have now also expanded to Malaysia, Indonesia and Poland.

Since „Trash Hero“ has started its project in Koh Lipe a lot has changed. Whereas the locals used to burn their trash they have now built up their own trash collection system. Furthermore many restaurants and shops are no longer selling water in plastic bottles. Instead they promote metal bottles that can be refilled for free all over the islands.

By being an excellent example, educating people, finding ways of reducing and recycling trash the founders of „Trash Hero“ have made a change.

Check out their website and the documentary. Contribute if you happen to be somewhere you can!

Sources:

http://trashhero.org/weekly-cleanups/#bottles

http://www.20min.ch/schweiz/zentralschweiz/story/15615222

https://www.srf.ch/play/tv/dok/video/helden-des-abfalls?id=a1eb0b89-e8f4-44ab-afc3-85b751b4bd57