Someone challenged "bored millennials" to clean up local parks and beaches. They absolutely...

[demmiblue]

When hashtag social media challenges go viral, they’re usually bad news. The Tide pod challenge, cinnamon challenge, and that one where people stuck condoms on their heads were all pretty bad ideas.

But over the weekend, #Trashtag went viral, inspiring young people all over the world to buy a box of garbage bags and post photos of themselves cleaning up their local parks, beaches, and wilderness areas.

It’s believed that the trend started on March 5 when Facebook user Byron Román shared a photo of himself issuing a challenge to “bored teens” asking them to “Take a photo of an area that needs some cleaning or maintenance, then take a photo after you have done something about it, and post it.”

The post has since been deleted but it was shared over 300,000 times.

The hashtag campaign dates back to 2015 when UNCO, a company that makes camping gear, started the #TrashTag project to challenge people to pick up 10,000 pieces of trash within a year.

Link to tweet

https://www.upworthy.com/someone-challenged-bored-millennials-to-clean-up-local-parks-and-beaches-they-absolutely-nailed-it?c=ufb1

[WhiskeyGrinder]

1. (Today's teens aren't millennials. They're Gen Z.)

[Igel]

2. (We used to do that in the '70s.)

Without the self-publicity.

[marlakay]

6. I still do while hiking

But anything to encourage the youth to take part is wonderful!

[ZERTErYNOthe]

10. (We used to do that in the '70s.)

Regarding:

We used to do that in the '70s, Without the self-publicity.

Perhaps, but did you do that without any recognition? Many of these efforts back then were done by the Scouts (Girl and Boy), by schools, by churches, 4H, and other organizations. When I was in elementary school and participated in Crop Walks we always picked up trash along the way. There were many other community 'clean up' events as well. We were all honored afterwards with ribbons, plaques, a mention in the school yearbook or assembly, being called out in the Sunday service for outstanding efforts to improve our community, sometimes even in the hometown newspaper!

Yes, it's true that these days people need to ask for recognition, while in the 70's others stepped up and gave it to them. I'm still happy to thank them for the efforts. They have worked just as hard for it.

[Mariana]

20. I remember the '70's.

There couldn't have been that many of you doing it, because there was a whole lot more garbage lying around on roadsides, in parks, on beaches, in rivers, etc. than there is today.

[demmiblue]

3. (Totally didn't catch that, but it is a great challenge for all ages)

[panader0]

4. I may be square but I thinkk these genX, gen Z, millenials tags are silly..

signed, a baby boomer.

[MineralMan]

5. Whenever I go shore fishing in the Twin Cities,

at lakes or along the Mississippi river, I always take a big black garbage bag and clean up the area where I fish, before I start fishing. Then, I bring the bag home and put it in my wheelie bin for garbage pickup day.

I'm embarrassed by other anglers who trash their fishing spots. Why would anyone do that? Makes no sense.

[matt819]

7. I am so fucking tired of the labels

My kids are millennials. They work their asses off. They are stressed. They worry about the things that most people in their late 20s and early 30s fret about. Their friends work their asses off. Are they all accomplished and perfect? Well, apart from my own kids, of course not. But neither was our generation (boomers, if we're going to use labels), and those before us, and those who will come after.

I would argue, if I were so inclined, that it's not the age designation that distinguishes us, but rather social, economic, and educational backgrounds. And even there it's never all that clearly defined.

That said, I'm still fucking tired of the slamming of the millennials or the liberal elite (whatever the fuck they are), etc. That said, I'm perfectly happy with mocking and heaping contempt onto magats.

[lame54]

9. Generations don't make sense to me...

2 people born a year apart can be in 2 different generations but 2 people born 29 years apart can be in the same generation

[maxsolomon]

17. They're just arbitrary 20 year divisions.

Boomers start in 45.

I'm a Boomer, too. But I'm born in 63. My sister is Gen X, born in 65. I think I have more in common with her than I do a 74 year old.

[efhmc]

14. I so agree.

[DeminPennswoods]

8. Millenians are the next great civic-minded generation

at least according to generational theory established by Strauss and Howe in their book "Generations". They are the equivilent of the fast fading "Greatest Generation".

[calimary]

11. EVERY TIME I take our dog out to poo,

I wind up adding litter to whatever winds up in her poo bag. EVERY DOGGONE TIME!

What is the matter with people? What is wrong with them that they can just drop their trash on the ground any old where and stroll off without picking it up?

EVERY DAMN TIME:

Candy wrappers
Cigarette butts
Plastic water bottles, and lids
Corners that are a ripped off wrappers of power bars and such
Those little plastic dental floss forks
Pull tabs
Cigarette pack cellophane wrappers
The occasional soda or beer can
The occasional glass bottle (usually beer)
Grocery store receipts
And more!
And that’s just what a human carelessly dropped of their OWN. ALSO, what their dog leaves behind that they didn’t bother picking up!

And I snark under my breath... “who the hell brought you up?????”

[CrispyQ]

12. Also people who hawk on the ground.

I've never seen a woman do it. Maybe they do, but I've only ever seen men spit or hawk on the ground. Rude.

[karynnj]

13. Vermont has a green up day the first saturday in May every year -- it started in 1970

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Up_Day

Every year, people are out cleaning up trash.

[maxsolomon]

15. You couldn't pay me to do that in Seattle.

Everywhere that can conceivably house the homeless is doing so: off-ramps, sidewalks, greenbelts, public parks. The trash being generated is toxic. Moldy camping equipment and clothes, human waste, spoiled food, needles.

One I-5 off-ramp in downtown Seattle has been littered with hundreds of needles and their orange caps. The junkies (sorry, "opiate users" ) sit up on a retaining wall and use in full view of passing cars, then toss their garbage down on the road to demonstrate their disdain. The city and the state Transportation Depts point at each other to clean it up. Weeks turn into months...

Conversely, my Sis organizes creek cleanups in rural SE Indiana after the Spring floods, the creeks fill up with garbage from the surrounding roads, fields, and yards. Its a good thing, but the better thing is to not leave shit lying around in the 1st place.

[ismnotwasm]

18. I live in Seattle-- it's bad

It’s bad all over King county. Have BIL with a RV reclamation business who refuses to pull them out of King county anymore they are so disgusting.
That being said, the ignoring of the plight of the homeless has always bothered me, and not least because of the potential for disease. And it is happening—as so called “medieval diseases” such as typhus are making a comeback

[maxsolomon]

19. It's so far off the National Radar it's appalling.

It wasn't even mentioned in the 2016 campaign that I recall.

[ismnotwasm]

21. The West coast has always had a pipeline

Back in the day, and even still, the restless and drug dealers and certain sex workers would work their way up and down. San Diego to Seattle and more. Seattle is fairly “tolerant” of this kind of homeless, and will always attract more people.

I believe the problem is one of access to homes, decent jobs, a safety net for those about to LOSE their homes and treatment for drug and alcohol addiction. Did you hear about the stabbing at the tiny house village up on Aurora? Homes are provided, but the populace there are not safe. It’s a many pronged problem. I’ve had homeless patients tell me they stay away from the camps, because they get dangerous

It’s needs a string multifaceted, multi-state response.

[Wounded Bear]

16. K & R...for visibility...

Naysayers be damned, that is pretty cool.

Anything that encourages people to do the right thing is fine by me.

[Mariana]

22. Nah, it's important to put them down because they took pictures.

Some people have the need to feel superior, I guess.