As the spring thaw lays bare the discarded waste of winter, many Canadian fitness enthusiasts are trying to spread the word about plogging, an eco-friendly exercise mashup that combines the endorphin rush of jogging with the environmental benefits of picking up trash.
Plogging is a portmanteau of jogging and the Swedish phrase “plocka upp,” meaning pick up, and the premise is as simple as its name suggests. Rather than racing past the rubbish strewn along their route, ploggers pick it up to be disposed of properly, and if they’re feeling ambitious, try to squeeze in a few exercises in between pieces of trash as they fill up their bags.
The initial mentions of plogging seem to have surfaced on social media in Scandinavia in 2016, but the activity is getting more popular around the world this year.
The Swedish-exported fitness craze has gained a small but zealous following in Canada as ploggers try to connect with one another by showing off their trash hauls on social media.
Melanie Knight in Vancouver has taken up a 30-day challenge to collect litter for 10 minutes every day, which she has documented on Instagram with the #10minutetidy hashtag. She regularly posts selfies of her smiling brightly alongside some of the strange debris she has come across during her daily runs, including a leather belt, a children’s toy, and ironically, a dustpan.
