A prize of US$12,500 has been awarded by Freelancer.com to the world’s best team from Venezuela, led by 24-year-old Andrés Mogollon, co-founder of Sublime Studio. Andrés and his staff were supported by neighbors who helped to clean up a local area and remove over 5 tons of trash in three days!
Andrés said, “We brought together a community that didn’t care about a place they see every day. Our neighbors are planning to make a park in the place where there was nothing but trash and waste. We will use this prize to relocate our office to another country to avoid the continuous power outages, or until Venezuela’s situation gets normalized or at least allows us to work in normal conditions. We know that it might not be the most altruistic option but each one of us has a family to take care of, and winning the contest would be a really big help to accomplish that goal.”
AND the #freelancercleanup #trashtag winning entry is here:
Finalists:
From Gambia Team, Wonder Clean turned a landfill into a football field where more than two tons of waste were collected and put into 114 trash bags. The result? “More than 100 kids who play each week are very safe now, and they have lots of potential to be successful footballers and athletes in the future,” team leader Sulayman Musawir said.
From Pakistan, Adnan Khan joined the challenge to play an active role in encouraging his community to be responsible for their surroundings. He and his team collected 3 tons of plastic which were then removed by a waste handler.
From the United States, Angela Bennett who is an environmentalist at heart brought together a team of adults and kids to inspire them to do similar cleanups in the future. They hauled 45 trash bags and two old tires from a lagoon at a nearby lake onboard a canoe which they brought to a boat dock for disposal.
From Bangladesh, SM Anamul Hossein and his team of 17 volunteers managed to collect more than 150 trash bags to protect thousands of commuters, residents, workers, and shop owners from the unhygienic waste land-slash-graveyard of people who died during the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971.
From the Philippines Clockwork, Dream Studio doesn’t see the #freelancercleanup the world #trashtag challenge as a contest, rather “a contribution for a greener Earth.” Four tons of waste from canals were removed to irrigate water for the rice fields, benefiting hundreds of farmers in their community.
From Romania, Bálint Gellért-Attila filled 72 bags of plastics, cans, old clothes, shoes, rusty iron and other metals. When he posted his cleanup on social media, a member of the town’s council saw the post and organized a huge waste collection with volunteers at parks, schools, cemeteries, and other parts of town.
From Bangladesh, Team Superheroes has been engaging in any kind of social work as they see it as their personal responsibility to the environment and society. They are out to save mankind by “creating social responsibility, reducing air pollution, and aiming for a disease-free world for the next generation.”
From Colombia, GreenCycle is heavily concerned of the rich biodiversity in their country that they aim to preserve the ecosystems. They cleared the garbage from a local stream which is a direct water source of the town. In effect, “The local community thanked us and noticed our efforts. We hope that our cleanup inspired many, and that even the smallest efforts can make a big impact.”
From Pakistan, Ahmad Ayaz Noor and his men chose a slum area where more than 200 families are living in poverty. They transformed an open area used as a dump site into a hygienic and healthy environment where children are safe to play. He said, “My team eliminated and disposed two truckloads of garbage, cleansed and leveled the ground, and installed a football field.”
From India, Team Shirley and Team Darshan transformed a school’s dump yard from a hideout for youngsters involved in drugs to a children’s playground enjoyed by kids, “We were praised for what we did, and for contributing to society.”
From Bangladesh, Merajul Islam was concerned for the safety of the animals in an unmaintained hospital which is why he and his brother sanitized the place. Through their initiative, they have changed the cleaning system of the government-run hospital and have had the authority’s commitment to take on this responsibility in the future.
Freelancer.com Chief Executive Matt Barrie said, “When I first saw the #trashtag challenge trending I thought our freelancers worldwide would want to help, and they did. We all have a role to play in making the world a better place. I congratulate not just the winners, but everyone who entered and helped to clean up the world.”
The Freelancer.com Clean up the World challenge is part of a series of challenges that the company is hosting in order to encourage its community to make the world a better place. Freelancer.com is also currently hosting another contest after the Notre Dame disaster, challenging architects and designers to submit their ideas on how the Notre Dame Cathedral should be rebuilt. More details can be found here.
About Freelancer ®
Twelve-time Webby award-winning Freelancer.com is the world’s largest freelancing and crowdsourcing marketplace by total number of users and projects posted. More than 32
million registered users have posted over 15 million projects and contests to date in over 1,350 areas as diverse as website development, logo design, marketing, copywriting, astrophysics, aerospace engineering and manufacturing. Freelancer owns Escrow.com, the leading provider of secure online payments and online transaction management for consumers and businesses on the Internet with over US$4 billion in transactions secured. Freelancer also owns Freightlancer, a global enterprise freight marketplace.
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