Plogging is the combination of litter picking and
jogging. Started by eco & fitness
conscious Swedes and it’s really caught on.
It’s estimated that 20,000 people plog every day in more than 100
different countries. It’s easy to get
involved, simply add a pair of safety gloves and a rubbish bag to your running
kit. As you jog keep an eye out for
litter, when you spot some, squat down and pick it up, put it in the bag and then
keep running. It’s as easy as that! There are lots of groups
How to Get Fit Plogging
If you’re out running, you’re already getting fitter but
there are a few ways you can enhance your plogging run to get the most out of your
time.
Sprint between the pieces of rubbish. Treat it like a high
intensity training (HIT) exercise. For best
cardiovascular results run less than 10k and intensify the experience by adding
in sprints or jumping.
Stretch / do muscle building exercises. When you drop down to pick up rubbish squat
or do other leg work such as bending down on one leg. You can do multiple reps at each stop if the
litter is widely spaced. If there’s lots
of litter do 10 x reps of a particular exercise and then change.
Swap the rubbish bag between hands. It can get heavy towards
the end of a run so make sure you treat your arms equally.
Get competitive. If you head out with a group see who’s the
best by weighing the litter at the end of the run or by counting the amount of
items as you go. It’s a new kind of PB!
Wellness. Plogging is
a great workout but also has the additional benefit of the feel good factor not
just from the endorphins from the run but from the satisfaction that you are helping
the planet and stopping rubbish from ending up in our waterways.
Connect with your community.
People will be inspired by seeing you and will hopefully get involved
too, even if getting involved simply means being more considerate of their
waste.
Mix it up. You don’t
have to run. You can get involved with plogging litter picks by walking, cycling,
skateboarding, paddle boarding… any form of movement is accepted and the more
different types of movement you do in a week the fitter you will be! The core value is become a proud litter picker
however you do it.
What to do with rubbish from litter picking?
The answer to this question varies dependent on where you
are and what kind of rubbish you have collected. If you are an individual you may well be able
to use your household bins to dispose of the waste, do try and separate the
recycling out for maximum effectiveness.
If you are part of a group you should contact your local council. Normally they are keen to support litter
pickers and may offer you rubbish bags, litter picking kit and somewhere to
drop the rubbish too once collected.
A quick safety note – don’t collect anything that is very
heavy or sharp when plogging. Make a
note of where these things are and let your local council know. They will send
a team to sort out the problem.
Get Involved
There may well be groups of ploggers local to you to join. Look for local Facebook Groups, google plogging
in your area or take a look at: The Great Global Cleanup| Join a Cleanup (earthday.org) There
are lists of local groups running events for National Cleanup Day.
A Final Thought
The inventors of plogging
ask the question:
What would happen if everyone picked up one piece of litter every
day?
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