#Trashtag: Woman introduces the useful viral sensation to Madison

Jamie Perez by Jamie Perez

People around the world are calling the #trashtag movement a useful viral sensation, and now, it’s made its way to Madison.

The movement involves a good Samaritan using the hashtag #trashtag when posting before and after photos of an area littered with trash and that same area after that person has cleaned up the area.The movement aims to inspire others to do the same in an effort to help clean up communities around the globe.

Anastacia Gunn introduced the movement to the Madison area after moving here from Florida. She said she started seeing a lot of trash appear around her community once the snow started to melt.

She has gone out five times now to clean up trash along the Southwest Bike Path on Madison’s west side.

“When you actually stop and look, it’s a lot of trash,” Gunn said. “I’ve picked up 24 bags of trash in the last week.”

Gunn first posted about her #trashtag efforts on Reddit where she gained a lot of momentum more quickly than she anticipated.

“I got an overwhelmingly positive response,” she said.

Gunn said she has always cared about the environment and used to work with ocean clean up efforts. She said seeing the trash in Madison inspired her to do something about it when no one else would.

“I take this path multiple times a week and I just noticed all the trash and I was just kind of waiting around for someone to do something about it and no one ever really did,” she said.

Gunn’s efforts have sparked a trend in Madison. Jason Allen is one of the people she’s inspired through Reddit. Allen said he rides the Southwest Bike Path every day to work and has noticed a difference.

“My ride to work has gotten so much more enjoyable since we cleaned up the other section back there and I don’t have to look at garbage,” Allen said.

Gunn said she and Allen have picked up more than 24 bags of trash in the past week.

“It’s a lot more physically demanding than you anticipate it to be,” Gunn said.

Gunn and Allen attract many passerby who stop to admire and ask what they are doing. Some even join in to help.

“We are cleaning up a lot of garbage, but that’s not the solution to this problem. The solution is to stop letting this garbage get here in the first place,” Allen said.

Gunn said she will soon be moving to another area, but said she plans “on keeping this going as long as I can.”

If you are interested in joining Gunn’s efforts, you can message her on Reddit here.

Gunn also pointed out, if you don’t have time to join her group at the times and days they go, you can always grab a trash bag and pick up trash in your own community whenever it is convenient for you.

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