March 13: A new challenge has gone viral and this one is prompting people around the world to clean up their nearby green areas and post before/after photos.

This weekend, the #trashtag challenge inspired people to go to locations covered in garbage, pick up the trash, and post before and after pictures on social media.

So far there are more than 26,000 posts tagged on Instagram and countless volunteers have cleaned up parks, roads and beaches around the world.

The space in which we live should be for the person we are becoming now, not for the person we were in the past. - Marie Kondō.

The challenge, started on social media has made it around the world and encouraged people to get outside and help to clean up the environment. The trashtag challenge is an effort to clean up litter and trash on beaches, roadsides, parks, etc.

Unlike some of the other more recent challenges, this one makes people feel good about themselves and the environment around them and helps to clean up spaces for others. As thousands of people go outdoors to help clear trash and litter, they help people focus on taking care of their community for future generations and others.

The #trashtag challenge has been raising awareness of litter pollution and the scale of ocean plastic. Over 150 million tonnes of plastic are in our oceans, according to a World Economic Forum paper from 2016, and a 2018 UK government report warned the amount of plastic polluting the world's oceans is expected to triple between 2015 and 2025.

Like the Ice Bucket Challenge that raised $115 million for the ALS Association, #trashtag could be a rare social media challenge that makes the world a better place.

 
• Trashtag