It’s not impossible for a big viral challenge to contribute something positive to the world, but it’s often the case that the popular ones tend to be pointless, yet harmless at best and actually harmful at worse.
After all, for every ice bucket challenge intended to raise money for ALS research, there were several stunts that had people do distressing things like eat laundry pods or set themselves on fire.
Fortunately, the #trashtag challenge is a nice return to positive form after a couple of years of madness.
Although this challenge reached across many social media platforms, it seemed to start on Reddit.
According to Time , a lighting company called UCO had tried to get a similar idea going to protect wilderness areas, but this man apparently opened the challenge up to any neglected area.
The challenge happened to pick up speed alongside cleanup efforts that were already underway throughout the world.
For instance, the Strait Times , reported that 5,000 government employees and volunteers removed 40 tons of trash from the shores of Manila Bay in the Philippines.
Not only that, but authorities fined three restaurants the equivalent of $3,835 each for dumping waste water into the bay.
A similar effort in India went even farther, where a lawyer named Afroz Shah led an effort to clean up Mumbai beach.
As CNN reported , Shah and what turned out to be 1,000 volunteers removed 5842 tons of trash, particularly plastics, from the beach over the course of almost two years.
Those responding to the #Trashtag challenge didn’t often meet the grand scale of those two efforts, but every little bit certainly helps.
One woman took to the water and fished out some floating garbage with the help of her valued partner, Selma Kayak and Large Marge the Garbage Barge.
Hey, you need to find some way to amuse yourself while you’re doing all that hard work.
Some chose to focus their attention on roadside eyesores, like these three young women.
Sometimes, it’s hard to tell how large a trash pile really is until you see how many bags it fills. One can only imagine how many careless drivers it took to make all of this waste.
This man in Nepal decided to undertake his own #trashtag contribution, and that’s definitely a place where this challenge could make a big change.
This is especially true in the area around Sagarmatha National Park, where Mount Everest sits.
According to Live Science , the Sagarmatha Pollution Control Committee does its best to manage waste in the area, but with no local enforcement and thousands of tourists to deal with, they have their work cut out for them.
These clothes may seem a little too nice to root through trash in, but these youths have a good reason for wearing them.
That’s because these students from Tetso College in Dimapur, India wanted to represent their school as they took on their part of what has grown into a worldwide challenge.
Although it’s unclear where exactly this photo comes to us from, the impact this guy had on this field is perfectly clear.
And for anyone saying he missed a spot, he probably wasn’t quite finished yet. What he was actually doing here is showing us how much he was able to clean up in just an hour.
Sadly, this horse wasn’t the one who picked up all of this trash.
Instead, it seems that most of the work was done by staff members of a business that offers horse rides in St. Petersburg, Russia.
Oh well, it’s still a good contribution.
This daring volunteer took their small boat through Jamaica Bay in New York to take on the untold amounts of trash floating around.
After all, making garbage wet does very little to improve how pleasant it is to be around.
There’s a certain taboo against posting good deeds online, but in this case these posts inspire others to do the same.
Might make it worth it!
The change is so striking when done in natural areas.
It looks as if the landscape has been transformed completely — rehabilitated almost.
Many have tweeted important messages about the waste issues we face today, along with their photos.
This person addressed how the root of the issue is waste education, and if people aren’t aware of the correct way to dispose of trash, it will only continue.
This #TrashTag trend has crossed country borders and international waters to reach anyone and everyone who is willing to make a change.
Hopefully people continue this amazing movement beyond the social media trend that’s happening right now.
