People are Cleaning Up Streets to Complete the Viral #Trashtag Challenge

In a welcome departure from disturbing internet trends like the 'Momo challenge' or 'Tide Pod challenge', netizens around the world are now posting photos of the '#Trashtag challenge'.

The Trashtag challenge includes taking photos of a dirty place/area and then cleaning it up before photographing the same spot again. The end-goal is to post 'Before-After' shots of an area preceding and succeeding the cleaning.

Originally started as the Trashtag Project in 2015 by UCO, a company that makes outdoor gear, the challenge encourages people to step out oftheir houses, seek out littered areas and clean them. the initial goal of the project was to collect 10,000 pieces of trash by October 2016.

While the project seemed to die down in intensity by the end of 2016, March 2019 witnessed a revival of the project in the form of the #Trashtag challenge.

And like with everything on the Internet, the challenge soon went viral across the world with netizens posting 'before-after' photos of extremely littered spaces that they tidied up.

#trashtag is really gaining in popularity, let’s keep it going! pic.twitter.com/UpuHcWSTk1

— Kelllvvviiinnn (@kelllvvviiinnn) March 10, 2019

Another #trashtag challenge accepted! Help keep our streets clean. pic.twitter.com/0bh7oEEcTN

— TO112 (@to112life) March 10, 2019

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

— Kelllvvviiinnn (@kelllvvviiinnn) March 9, 2019

Along the Potomac River south of Washington, DC #trashtag pic.twitter.com/n2uPL52LZG

— Robbie McNeil (@RMcNeil2105) March 10, 2019

Excited to see #trashtag happening in #CLT @MeckParkRec #greenway pic.twitter.com/E2jsCjNkm0

— Rick Winiker (@Rickwins) March 11, 2019

Hey kids. Remember the Harlem shake..the water bottle flip challenge..the mannequin challenge..? At last, something meaningful is about to drop globally - #trashtag - take a before and after shot of major tidying efforts. You heard it here first, kids. @CognitaSchools #CognitaWay pic.twitter.com/pp873OGNP2

— Andy Perryer (@andyperryer) March 10, 2019

#trashtag #TrashChallenge
Picking up around Clifton with UCMC! pic.twitter.com/IjTVSzk7BN

— Fred Schroeder (@fred_schroeder) March 10, 2019

The challenge also found several takers in India, home to the Bhratiya Janata Party government's flagship sanitati0on project 'Swachh Bharat Mission'. Many took to the outdoors along or with friends and family for some community service while enjoying a day out in the sun.

Here's a post from Dimapur, Nagaland that was shared on Instagram.

Another from Bangalore on Reddit.




Yet others took to Twitter.

I don't have a before-and-after picture, but here's a couple of pictures of me with my family picking up trash from the road side whenever we made a rest stop. #trashtag pic.twitter.com/TygYf2dM13

— Adhiti (@frizhbee) March 10, 2019

However, many expressed concern about where all the collected garbage will go, raising questions not just about waste collection but also about waste disposal systems across the world.