Around the world the Hash House Harriers are not only tolerated but are in fact embraced despite our silliness and our penchant for drinking beer. There are many reasons for this but one of the main ones is the fact that we are all quite active in environmental cleanups wherever we happen to be.
Hashers not Trashers is an offshoot of the HHH and just like the mother organization, there isn't an administrative hierarchy. Basically if you feel like doing it and want to fly the "colors" so to speak, go for it.
In Fresno, California a group of half a dozen Hashers took to highway 102 and picked up several bags of trash. I do find it amusing that they are required to wear high visibility vests even though they are in a way doing the city's job for them.
Every now and then someone doing a HnT event will stumble upon the remnants of the worst members of society such as this. People decided to come out to this spot and enjoy nature while having zero respect for the nature themselves. Littering in a natural place like this is one of the most selfish things I can imagine.
We regularly encounter this on our runs in Chiang Mai because there seems to be an attitude of indifference as far as littering is concerned in Thailand, which is a shame. the other day I saw a group of kids chucking empty cans on the ground right in front of teachers and other adults and not a single person told them off. Changes in behavior happen when a kid is small you know!?
While most people probably envision Japan as being this spotless utopia, because for the most part that is exactly what it is, there is some need for cleanup there as well. This pic that was submitted however, kind of seems staged or it was just an accident. I can't imagine there are a bunch of Japanese people running around ditching entire bags of garbage on purpose.
One underlying tenet of the Hashers not Trashers as well as the Hash House Harriers as a whole is "Leave it better than you found it" in regards to all of nature. This is what we do on all of our runs as the walkers who are not competing for placement will carry bags with them and pick up garbage along the way.
This helps not just with cleaning up nature but also with the teensy little problem that we occasionally encounter when we are trespassing on someone else's land. They normally will just leave us alone when they see us emerge from the jungle with several bags of trash that is probably their own. When they see this they will normally give us a thumbs up or some applause and we never damage anything nor do we ever leave and garbage behind. Normally the only thing we leave behind are what remains of our giant blocks of ice an that is just clean water that the earth is going to use anyway.
Even if you are not a Hasher, I hope the next time you see a bottle or can lying on the side of the road that you will take a moment to pick it up. Every little bit helps!
