While we don't have an official chapter of Hashers not Trashers here that is only because there is no such thing as a Hashers not Trashers official chapter just like there is no such thing as an "official" Hash chapter anywhere in the world. This isn't the stock market, you don't need a license to have one of these setups. If you want one, start one, there are no rules.
However, I do feel as though the HHH are pretty active in environmentalism not because of any sort of political motivation but because we use nature for our runs and would prefer that they be clean. Here in Chiang Mai we make a real effort to clean up garbage that we encounter when we are doing a run and we NEVER leave anything behind at the places that we go to. This accomplishes several things: The land owners tend to look forward to our arrival even though we are technically trespassing everywhere that we go, the mostly plastic cleanup is good for everyone, and it also improves our standing in the community so that people see us as a good thing.
Other people get a lot more recognition for this than we do, such as getting a road named after their Hash.
The Mutha Rucker Hash House Harriers in Alabama takes care of mile 10 on some sort of highway there and while I am not familiar with how any of this works, it is kind of nice that they do it even though they were not Hashing at the time.
Cleaning up a whole mile of roadside is a big job even in a relatively litter free place like USA. If we were to do something like this in Thailand it would take considerably longer I would imagine. Thailand isn't exactly known for the extreme care they put into waste disposal.
It's good of them to do this and they deserve recognition for this even though it doesn't really have anything to do with ASEAN, and that is why I am writing about it.
The Hash House Harriers isn't just a group of people that like to act silly and drink beer even though we definitely are those things as well. Behind our silly exterior are a group of people that are genuinely caring about the world that they live in for the most part, and I would say that we are perhaps a bit more switched on about this than the average person is.
I do think it is a bit silly that they have to wear those high viability vests just to go and do something for free, but I suppose USA has a lot of rules that don't really exist anywhere else that I am aware of.
Well done Mutha Rucker H3, you are one of the many good Hashes out there that actually care about the communities that they live in. We like to think we are the same way but I really don't think they will ever name a stretch of road against us. For the most part we are just happy to not get arrested when we are traipsing around other people's land!
We are still doing 3 runs a week or more here in Chiang Mai, Thailand and if anyone wants to come and join us that is visiting or live here, please do so. Cleaning up trash is just one aspect of what we do. Check out the official schedule HERE if you would like to come and join in the fun!
On On!
