#Trashtag: The viral challenge that's sweeping the globe

What started off as a challenge to “bored teens” might just be the kick in the pants the global community needed to clean up our act.

Litter is a huge problem worldwide, with garbage sweeping up on shores, clogging up rivers, and piling up on land on some of your favourite travel destinations. Much of it is due to a lack of education, as well as neglectful behaviour. It can turn a majestic paradise into a sadly wasted land (case in point: Kuta Beach in Bali) and the entire ecosystem is impacted.

The good news is, there are many initiatives working to clean up our planet, and every single effort helps.

Sometimes, it can be the push of something as unassuming as a social media challenge to help better our planet — such as the current viral trend #Trashtag.

The original Facebook post by Byron Román was a call-out to bored teens to get off their butts, clean up an area, and post a before-and-after photo.

Little did he know that the online world is always usually sometimes up for a challenge, and this one resonated with globe-lovers worldwide. The challenge has taken off, and just refreshing the hashtag hourly may just help restore your faith in humanity.

The post reads:

Here is a new #challenge for all you bored teens. Take a photo of an area that needs some cleaning or maintenance, then take a photo after you have done something about it, and post it. Here are the people doing it #BasuraChallenge #trashtag Challenge, join the cause. #BasuraChallengeAZ”

(Basura means trash in Spanish.)

Since it was shared nine days ago, the post has received 99,000 likes and 332,000 shares on Facebook, and has sparked a trend across social media of others sharing similar efforts to clean up the globe.

 

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A post shared by Blue.Fondation♻️🌍 (@blue.fondation75) on Mar 13, 2019 at 2:03am PDT

 

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A post shared by Trashtag Challenge (@trashtag.challenge) on Mar 13, 2019 at 3:44am PDT

 

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A post shared by #1 Feel Good Meme Page 💻 (@themostwholesomememes) on Mar 11, 2019 at 4:07am PDT

 

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A post shared by Greenpeace Belgium (@greenpeace_be) on Mar 14, 2019 at 10:37am PDT

 

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A post shared by Gus The Bus (@gus_the_bus718) on Mar 14, 2019 at 11:12am PDT

 

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A post shared by Catch it with Kris (@catchitwithkris) on Mar 14, 2019 at 12:26pm PDT

 

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A post shared by VOOGT (@voogt.corp) on Mar 14, 2019 at 9:40am PDT

 

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A post shared by Julian NP (@jul.tyl) on Mar 13, 2019 at 5:18pm PDT

#trashtag seems to be trending. This one’s from Nepal 🇳🇵 pic.twitter.com/stAxbQXhup

— Kelllvvviiinnn (@kelllvvviiinnn) March 9, 2019

So what are you waiting for? Grab a trash bag, do some work, and use the hashtag! (#Trashtag… we just fully got it).