Dive Brief:
- Cincinnati Councilman Christopher Smitherman has started the "One Bag of Trash" challenge—modeled after the Ice Bucket Challenge—to encourage more community cleanup efforts.
Watch on #Periscope: Vice Mayor David Mann accepts #onebagoftrash challenge https://t.co/hcVTwwbRs4
— C. Smitherman (@voteSmitherman) August 1, 2016
- Smitherman debuted the idea in a Periscope video on Sunday in which he collected litter around a local neighborhood. He challenged multiple city officials to collect one bag of trash within 48 hours.
- So far, the city's vice mayor and another council member have accepted the challenge. The idea is being promoted on social media as #OneBagofTrash.
Dive Insight:
Smitherman said he goes out to collect litter from the streets often and the idea came to him in a dream. In addition to putting pressure on local government, he also wants to inspire residents to take more ownership over their communities.
"I just believe that if we all do this, no matter where you live across the country, that we could clean up this country—clean up our neighborhoods," said Smitherman to Cincinnati.com. "Things would be better real fast."
Claire Cummings, waste programs manager for the food service provider Bon Appétit, also put a waste-oriented spin on this concept last year. She started the "Scrap Bucket Challenge"—which involved people dumping food scraps on their head—to raise awareness about organic waste.
Social media has begun to play a larger role in spreading ideas in the waste world, especially as younger professionals enter the workforce. Last fall, Keep America Beautiful used the #AmericaRecyclesDay hashtag to encourage pledges to recycle more. Recently, Waste Management also used social media tools to show a young California boy's dream of being a garbage collector come true using the #EthanCleansUp hashtag.
