--- title: Viral Challenge #trashtag Persuades People to Pick Up Litter description: The #trashtag hashtag went viral over the weekend, challenging social media users to clean up their communities canonical: https://time.com/5548966/trashtag/ author: Ciara Nugent article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2019-03-11T12:40:00.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T08:02:47.063Z og:title: Viral Challenge #trashtag Persuades People to Pick Up Litter og:description: It's an unusually wholesome internet trend og:url: https://time.com/5548966/trashtag/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8b73a2ea86e17845/69894687b21a9c0aea50040d/gettyimages-998268334.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5610 og:image:height: 3156 og:image:alt: litter-trashtag-viral-trend og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Viral Challenge #trashtag Persuades People to Pick Up Litter twitter:description: It's an unusually wholesome internet trend twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8b73a2ea86e17845/69894687b21a9c0aea50040d/gettyimages-998268334.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # People Are Picking Up Trash in Parks and Beaches for the 'Trashtag Challenge' > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ## Video: A Pilot Whale Has Died in Southern Thailand After Swallowing 17 Pounds of Plastic Waste [Watch (HLS stream): A Pilot Whale Has Died in Southern Thailand After Swallowing 17 Pounds of Plastic Waste](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/faZQT5L9.m3u8) (1:10)  _Published 2018-06-04. A pilot whale died last week in southern Thailand after eating more than 80 plastic bags and other debris, Agence France-Presse reports._  by [Ciara Nugent](https://time.com/author/ciara-nugent/)  ## Ciara Nugent Mar 11, 2019 12:40 PM UTC  Monty Rakusen – Cultura RF/Getty Images  by [Ciara Nugent](https://time.com/author/ciara-nugent/)  ## Ciara Nugent Mar 11, 2019 12:40 PM UTC As online challenges go, #trashtag, which went viral on social media over the weekend, is a pretty wholesome one. Hundreds of people shared photos of themselves litter-picking in trash-strewn parks and streets on Saturday and Sunday, while calling on others to start cleaning up their communities. The idea for #trashtag has been around for several years, with [one company](https://www.snewsnet.com/press-release/uco-launches-trashtag-project-to-keep-nature-beautiful) promoting the idea back in 2015 as a way to protect threatened wilderness areas. But it gathered steam over the weekend, as users on [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/trashtag/?hl=en), [Reddit](https://www.reddit.com/r/wholesomememes/comments/az3ejn/this%5Fshould%5Fbe%5Fthe%5Fnew%5Fchallenge%5Fto%5Fmake%5Fthe/?utm%5Fsource=reddit-android) and [Twitter](https://twitter.com/hashtag/trashtag?f=tweets&vertical=default&src=refgoogle) shared dramatically different before and after photos of one wooded area where a man bagged up hundreds of plastic objects — accompanied with an invitation to find a place “that needs some cleaning or maintenance” and “take a photo when you have done something about it.” The idea soon spread, with some social media users incorporating “trashtag” into their weekend trips. > [](https://twitter.com/frizhbee/status/1104596839511277569) > [](https://twitter.com/steben316/status/1105065198799544320) Others cleaned up in their local communities. 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