LitterHero is all about helping engage local heroes who want to clean up the streets and neighbourhoods, but don't know where to start. I realised that there are millions of people who want to stop litter and plastic pollution at its source - on their street, in their neighbourhoods and in their city - before it reaches the sea, and gets sent right back to us.

Putting the LitterHero platform together has taken a lot of time and resources in terms of webdesign, social media and real world event organisation and networking. While I have had a lot of help from a lot of great people, LitterHero is still in it's early stages and a lot of the people who helped me get this project started have moved on to new projects.

So I'm reaching out to you to ask for your help to take LitterHero to the next stage! As a micro organisation we rely on passionate volunteers to manage or complete small tasks and little projects that help us grow our outreach and build a network of local Litter prevention and clean up action groups, all over the world.

Currently we need volunteers for the following task and mini projects:
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1. Promoter of Local Groups - Help create local LitterHero Groups, either from scratch, or from existing groups that would like to connect with the growing LitterHero network. This includes taking photos & videos of local events and actions, and sharing them on social media, to encourage others to join us!
2. ​Events Coordinator - I'm no good at organizing things, there is no point in even pretending. But we do have plenty of experience in what it takes to create a memorable event, I just need someone who is happy to put a date to things and help schedule people & places.
3. Blog Writer - If you are looking for a place to publish your waste prevention & elimination knowledge, I would love to add you as a blog author. We need fresh and relevant articles that inspire people to take direct action to end waste.
4. Researcher - One of our main objectives is to promote education to prevent waste and litter creation in the first place. We are always looking for simple and useful information that people will actually use, regarding zero waste living, circular economy projects and plastic waste reduction. If you like finding things online, please help us out!
5. Facebook Editor - If you are a Social Media King or Queen, I could really use your help to share, re-post and help promote the work and information being shared on our other LitterHero Local groups, onto our main Facebook pages.
6. Email assistant - As a father of 2 small children and active partner in 2 businesses, I'm having trouble answering Litterhero emails in time. I can create an @litterhero.org email and with the help of some scripted guidelines and FAQs texts, volunteers help reply and redirect some of the emails we receive.

If you are passionate about helping clean up the planet, have a few minutes a week to spare and can work from home or directly from a mobile device, I would love to hear from you! 

​Is it even worth getting started on local litter clean up activities when globally, mounting trash is such a massive problem? Yes it is, and here's why:

​At times we are bombarded with so many negative statistics, articles, videos and comments relating to the state of the plante, that it all seems just too overwhelming. It happens to me often, but then I think "every single piece of litter on the street, in the forest and in the ocean was put there by someone not entirely unlike me. The same way it got there, it can be retrieved - piece by piece."

Start Small
Is there a lot of work to be done? Certainly. Is it worth the time and effort? Unquestionably. This is our planet, our home, our street and our own back yard. It's easy to post angry and frustrated comments on social media, but ultimately it's up to you and me to take action to make things better.

Think Big
The great news is that if even a few people start taking direct action such as joining local clean up initiatives, talking to and pressuring municipalities and telling their friends and family that every one of us can have an immediate and direct impact, then we can effect change on a Global scale. It all starts with me & you!

Good Citizenship
Wikipedia defines this as when one properly fulfills his or her role as a citizen. There are many opinions as to what constitutes a good citizen. Theodore Roosevelt said, "The first requisite of a good citizen ... is that he shall be able and willing to pull his weight." A great way to do that is to get involved with your local community.

Beyond Litter
Why focus on litter when there are so many even more pressing environmental concerns? It's a great question. One of the reasons I have chose to focus on litter is that I feel it's something so very easy to control, without even changing our lifestyle, just our habits, and if we are persuasive, the habits of our friends and family too. But it goes beyond the local manifestations of piled up kerb side trash; if we no longer accept such sights, we start to grow more aware of our surroundings and our impact on our environment, natural and man-made. Then we can start to shift our current paradigm and all live with more quality and abundance.

If you believe in a globalized world that what goes around comes around, then good citizenship is a no-brainer. Here's a list of 10 things you can do right now to be a better citizen!

A web search for Good Citizenship comes up with about 5,580,000 results. My definition is simple and I try to use it to guide my decisions and day to day life. It's one of the very reasons I decided to pursue the #LitterHero ideal and put this website together!  I don't always succeed, but it's a kind of way point that I can always refer back to.

Essentially, the idea is an ancient one: do to other what you would have done to yourself; in this case, I like a tidy back yard, a clean street, a pure environment enjoy and clean oceans for myself, my family and friends. To achieve these lofty goals all you or I have to do is consider other people as we go about our own lives. 

You don't have to believe in karma to realise that what you do will have an impact on other people. If your impact is positive you will build good things around yourself but if your impact is negative, you will destroy and harm yourself and others. You can have your cake and eat it too, so long as you don't leave the box on the side of the road.

So here's a list of 10 things you can do right now to be a better citizen, starting from the 4th grade up.
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1. Volunteer to be active in your community.
2. Be honest and trustworthy.
3. Follow rules and laws.
4. Respect the rights of others.
5. Be informed about the world around you.
6. Respect the property of others.
7. Be compassionate.
8. Take responsibility for your actions.
9. Be a good neighbor.
10. Protect the environment.

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Source Ms. Sanches Class

Cleanup events are one of the most powerful ways of spreading a positive message and being an actual Litter Hero. Whether an event is attended by 2 people or 200 people, the statement is clear: 

"We have a litter problem here, and together we can make this part of the world cleaner".

LitterHero clean up events are design for maximum positive impact and minimum hassle. We do this by limiting numbers to around 30 people max and scheduling at a time when people with children can also attend, usually Saturdays around 10:30 am.

Another powerful driver is that we like to keep our events very short! 30 minutes of clean up time is enough for even a small group to make a big impact and also keep people of all ages engaged and more importantly, increase the desire to clean up even more!

In a nutshell, here's the secret sauce:

1. Small groups
2. Family friendly scheduling
3. Limited duration

If you would like to host your own litter clean up events through a local #LitterHero group or on your own, here is a good article to help you get started.

The LitterHero concept is based on the continuous improvement actions of the constituent groups of individuals. These actions are based on the ideas we consider to have the greatest positive impact at the least cost. And all these ideas come from people like any of us.

You don't have to have a perfect and complete concept to start developing a new campaign or improvement action, just the purpose of the idea and some notion of how to get the desired result.

Share your ideas for Preventing or Disposing of Garbage and Waste with us, and we'll try to help you develop the best way to bring it to life!