The original concept behind the Trashtag Project was created by Steven Reinhold, of North Carolina back in 2015, and it was simple; pick up any trash you find along a trail, park, or beach, take a photo of it, post it on social media with the hashtag trashtag and an outdoor gear company would send you a small token of appreciation.
In March of 2019, our co-founder, "The Arizona Man", shared a photo of a cleanup by an Algerian young man, Drici Tani Younes, and challenged "Bored Teens" to do the same. A few days later and several thousand of shares on FB, IG, Twitter, and Reddit, people of all ages, from around the world, grabbed a bag, and took to parks, beaches, public areas, and picked up garbage and dubbed it the #Trashtag Challenge; #basurachallenge, an ongoing challenge in Latin America, also regained momentum.
Though the concept of picking up trash and cleaning up areas is nothing new, these viral challenges have helped raise awareness around our waste problem and as inhabitants of this planet, has given us a higher level of ownership. It's our trash, it's our planet, let's take better care of it