On our city streets, research shows that cigarettes, bottle caps, and paper receipts are some of the most common littered items. Nearly 50 billion pieces of litter were reported along U.S. roadways and waterways, according to the Keep America Beautiful 2020 National Litter Study. The good news is that we are making progress, and the study also reported that litter on America’s roads was down 54% since 2009. Keeping our streets, neighborhoods, beaches, and oceans cleaner and reducing pollution and litter is important to me. I was pretty happy to hear about plogging — one of the latest fitness trends that benefits your health and the environment.
Plogging is the simple act of jogging and picking up trash in your surroundings. It made me stop and think, “When was the last time I picked up trash outside?” Well, it was last week when I was walking my dogs around my neighborhood by the public lake dock. I picked up some receipts and a discarded fishing line that could have been harmful to animals, including my beloved pups.
The plogging trend started in Sweden, and it’s increasingly popular as more people do their part to help the environment and stay active. Read on for the best plogging tips to help you get started.
How to go plogging
Successful plogging requires going out jogging and stopping to pick up any litter you see along your way. Most ploggers wear gloves and carry large trash bags to put the trash in. When the bag is full, you can throw it away or recycle it, depending on the contents. If enough people participate, we can reduce the amount of litter that ends up in the streams, waterways, and oceans. A littered ocean causes a multitude of problems for wildlife, the environment, and humans.
How to get started
These top tips will help you get plogging:
- Bring gloves and a large recyclable or compostable trash bag. Drawstring bags and trash bags that are easy to close work best.
- Some people bring litter grabbers or trash pickers.
- Plan out different plogging paths before you go so you can clean up more ground and get a change of scenery.
- If you don’t want to be a lone ranger, share on social media and invite your friends and family.
- Start your own plogging group or club and organize weekly or biweekly group outings to get others involved.
- If you’re new to plogging, start with a shorter route until you build up your endurance over time.
Top plogging tips
- Be aware of traffic if you’re running near a road.
- Only pick up trash or litter that you know you can carry.
- Plog at a slower pace to make sure you don’t miss any litter.
- Go plogging during the day when it’s easier to see your surroundings.
- Only choose routes where you feel safe and comfortable plogging.
- Wear running or jogging shoes and clothes that suit the weather conditions.
- Bring a water bottle for hydration.
- Use a fitness tracker to log your progress and motivate you to keep plogging.
- Tie off the bag before disposing of the collected litter.
- Wash and sanitize your hands.
Remember, you don’t have to pick up every piece of litter; every little helps, so be proud that you’re improving your fitness and your local town or city. Some items will be too unsanitary or too heavy to pick up.
Squatting and bending tips
Squatting builds strength in your legs, especially large muscles like your quads. When you’re squatting down to pick up the litter, make sure you’re bending or squatting down properly to protect your back.
If you’re squatting, stand with your feet about shoulder-distance apart and your toes slightly turned out. Make sure you engage your core. Start by bending your hips and knees and sit back as if sitting in an invisible chair. Avoid letting your knees cave in or rounding your back.
When you’re just bending over to pick something up off the ground, use your legs and bend at the waist. Stand close to the object you’re lifting and avoid using your back to bear the weight. Make sure your weight is evenly distributed on both feet.
Incorporate interval training
Work with friends and include interval training, which makes it more fun and heightens the challenge. Adding interval training to your plogging torches even more calories.
Interval training increases your heart rate and involves high-intensity exercises that you perform interspersed with short rest periods or recovery periods. During the recovery periods, you perform a lower-intensity activity. Up your plogging game by incorporating more exercises and squat variations like Bulgarian split squats.
What are the benefits?
A cleaner environment is my favorite benefit. Additional benefits of plogging include:
- Contribute to a greener earth.
- Release feel-good endorphins when you exercise and feel good about helping your community.
- Work your arm muscles.
- Get a good workout in, and practice your squats and lunges.
- Level up your overall fitness.
- Improve your cardiovascular health.
- Burn more calories than just going jogging.
- Contribute to weight loss.
- Research shows exercise boosts your immune system.
- Research reveals that regularly jogging or running can reduce insulin resistance, which is a marker for prediabetes.
- Lower your stress.
- Studies show exercise can lower cortisol and reduce symptoms of depression and anxiety.
- Plogging gets you out in the open air and away from your computer.
Join the plogging community
If you’re looking to join a plogging community, several options are popping up. The Go Plogging organization has a helpful list of plogging communities and groups to join in different areas.
Try new routes and inspire others
Nature contributor and avid blogger, Kyle Obermann, doesn’t just plog along short and simple routes; he runs mountain trails in China from dawn until noon until he decides it’s a great time to start plogging. If you start plogging and making positive changes in your community, others are likely to follow. For example, in India, environmentalist and social activist Ripu Daman Bevli started plogging regularly and soon became known as the Plogman of India for inspiring so many.
