In Cambridge Dictionary, a hero is described as someone who “is admired for having done something very brave or having achieved something great”. In this case, we can surely describe Trash Hero Koh Lanta volunteers as heroes! Trash Hero is a great non-profit cleanup organisation founded on Koh Lipe, Thailand, in 2013, and it has been steadily gaining traction for the past few years and is focused on making Krabi province beautiful for generations to come. Arriving in Ao Nang, Krabi, in 2015, the Trash hero group spread its wings and brought schools, government officials, resorts and locals alike together on several annual beach cleaning days. The community-funded group has then put down its roots in Koh Lanta, the largest island in Krabi province. With the bridge connecting Koh Lanta Noi to Koh Lanta Yai completed, the traffic and growth of the region is increasing exponentially, which will in term inevitably come the more homes, hotels, shops, people and so on. And more garbage scattered all over the place. Trash Hero Koh Lanta have been informally cleaning beaches on a weekly basis, and it has the support of Lanta Tourism Association, Oasis Yoga, KoHub, Casuarina Resort, Siam Home Bakery, Lanta International Language School, The Living Room and more locals and foreigners alike, all dedicated to a greener island. THEIR MISSION The Trash Hero mission is to create sustainable, community-based projects that remove existing waste, and reduce future waste by inspiring long-term behaviour change. They do this through: Action and Awareness. They pick up trash. Whether a cigarette butt on the road, or 20,000 kilos from island beaches – if they see it, they clean it! And as they say, actions speak louder than words. By spending just a few hours together picking up trash, people can see the real world consequences of being careless about waste. Education. They back up hands-on experience with educational information about the impact that trash has on the global environment. “The success of our species is in the hands of the youth”, a saying we have all heard before and can agree with. This is the fundamental point for the Trash Hero clean up group, to get the younger generation involved and they will imbue what they learned with their everyday actions. The response in Ao Nang from local schools, and government officials has been great, a number of classes have been brought out to the beaches given speeches on why cleaning up the trash on our beaches is important. Sustainable Projects. They create long-term projects that bring communities together to remove and better manage their waste, and strategies that reduce the amount of waste being produced in the future. Inspiration. They motivate people to become Trash Heroes in their everyday lives. Trash Hero Thailand alum have gone home to make their own heroic clean-ups around the world. ABOUT TRASH HERO While solving the global garbage problem may be complex, knowing what to do about the garbage that is currently littered on our beaches and in our communities is relatively simple: pick it up. What’s the idea? With the support of local businesses, people come together once a week to pick up trash. When and where is this happening? At the time and location designated each week by the local Trash Hero group. Participating local businesses each week generously donate gloves and trash bags, food and beverages, and transportation when needed. Does it work? As of September 2015, 5000 volunteers have removed 100 metric tons of garbage from the beaches of Thailand and Indonesia. YOU CAN BE A HERO TOO Of course, anyone can be  a Trash Hero! A Trash Hero wastes as little as possible, reuses as much as possible, and works to preserve and improve the spaces they are in, wherever they may be. Also, the organization is always in need of additional volunteers; if you would like to spend the day doing something worthwhile, check Facebook for dates and times of their next cleanups! https://www.facebook.com/trashherokohlanta/?fref=ts To contact Trash Hero in Thailand, call +66 94 585 0251 or LINE trashhero, email info@trashhero.org Follow Trash Hero on http://trashhero.org/ 

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