Pick up a trash bag, take on the #TrashTag challenge

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A challenge that began as a small social media tag has expanded, becoming a widely known trend across all platforms.

The #TrashTag challenge became popular back in 2012 after a Reddit post was made, compelling the public to go out and find an outdoor area with trash and take two photos: one before, and one after.

In 2015, clothing company UCO, launched the #TrashTag making it a viral hashtag everyone could use.

“I see small pieces of plastic everywhere littering the streets…people really don’t see the gravity of how serious small quantities of trash affect our ecosystems,” said science major Brianna Serrato.

Within the past few months the #TrashTag has become viral again, encouraging participants anywhere from Berlin, to Russia, India and the U.S. to post progress of their small clean-ups. This challenge became popular once more in the beginning of March after a photoset was posted on Facebook, displaying ecologist, Drici Tani Younes and his clean up of a forest in Algeria. The post was captioned with a call to action which gave the campaign new life.

“If each of us start small, trying to make an impact on the world, it’ll eventually start making a greater effect, it’s common sense. There are parks here in Stockton that need to be cleaned up … like Oak Park,” said Serrato.

A small effort can go a long way to help maintain the already struggling ecosystems.

Lakes are polluted, coasts are littered with trash, Stockton has one of the biggest inland ports that also fills with trash along the shorelines.

Delta has several gardens that are open to the students, however, the campus must stay clean in order to keep the ecosystems properly working.

If trash is seen, students must make the effort to dispose of it properly.

It’s encouraged to use the #TrashTag when going out within the community in order to show the progress and spread awareness.

It only takes a few friends, a few trash bags, gloves, and caution when picking up trash.

The #TrashTag challenge is here to stay because the changes we have made in the environment are becoming more evident and need to be fixed by those who have caused it.