Maryville cleans up with #Trashtag
The Maryville City Council has challenged Maryville citizens to clean up around the community during the month of April as part of the #Trashtag challenge, a trend made popular by a Twitter user who challenged bored teens to make something of their extra time.
Although social media is increasingly rife with hashtags, trends, and challenges that do little for the real world, the #Trashtag challenge has succeeded in serving a greater and greener purpose. The challenge encourages people around the globe to clean up littered areas in their community and to show off the transformation by posting before and after photos.
The #TrashtagMaryville challenge will have a more directed process. The Maryville City Council will begin by cleaning an area and will then challenge other businesses and companies around Maryville to do the same. Each organization, if they so choose to accept the challenge, will then continue the cycle by cleaning an area and challenging more businesses and organizations to do the same.
“We are all proud of our beautiful community, and we are asking for help from our citizens to clean up the trash and debris that is detracting from that beauty,” said Maryville Mayor Tom Taylor. The council’s hope is to create an ongoing succession of clean-up events hosted by Maryville organizations and for Maryville citizens to take part in the betterment of the city’s environment.
“By issuing challenges to our friends, we are hoping to make the task of cleaning up a lot of fun,” said Councilman Fred Metz. “Each of us on City Council has someone we want to challenge to a clean-up. We are hoping each of those people and businesses will have fun getting out and cleaning up with friends and employees, and challenge their friends and neighboring businesses. We’d love to see this going all month long.”
The challenge extends to everyone in the area, including members of the Maryville College community. To participate in the #Trashtag or #TrashtagMaryville challenge, simply take a before photo of an area disturbed by litter or debris, clean the area alone or with others, and post an after photo with the hashtag #TrashtagMaryville and/or #Trashtag if you would like to be a part of the global movement.
You can also tag the Maryville City Council by including @MaryvilleCity in your post on Facebook or Twitter and @cityofmaryville in your Instagram post.
The kick-off for the #TrashtagMaryville challenge is April 1, but citizens are always encouraged to clean up littered areas around the city. For more information on the #TrashtagMaryville challenge, please visit the website.