A sport that combines physical exercise with socioenvironmental consciousness
Plogging is a sport that combines exercises and waste cleaning. It has been joining more practitioners each time, who realizes this activity guarantees that it promotes a big environmental consciousness. Besides it can be practiced in trails, mountains, beaches and also in urban areas.
This activity started in Sweden three years ago, more precisely in Stockholm city. It was born from Erik Ashtrom worries, a runner and environmentalist that searched for a solution to the problem that he found every time he went out to run: a big quantity of waste on the street or in nature. This way he created this activity in which he gave a name that results from the joining of the Swedish word plocka upp, that means to stand up, with the Anglo-Saxon term jogging, running.
Initially it was linked to running, but through the social media intermediate, this sport disseminated quickly all around the world and to other sports. In many countries it has already been founded plogging associations.
Through this sport, it is collected the waste found, during the running, walking, cycling, trekking, water sports or even in any physical activity. It can be done individually or in groups combining many corporally actions.
Every day the social media are viralized with pictures of millions of people that showed how they found a place and how they let this place after the new ecological sport.
IT IS A SPORT WITH MANY POSITIVE POINTS
First positive point, the act of running or walking to burn calories, with squats or bend to the collection, is faced as a method to lose weight.
Second positive point, it is a simple activity and low cost. You only need: sportive sneakers, gloves and a bag to collect the waste lifted from the ground.
Third positive point, it is the joining between the sport and the care with the environment, it is not only saying that you raise the Green Flag, but also, have a commitment with the decrease of the environmental impacts.
And the fourth positive point, is to think about the others, to leave a cleaner society to the future generations.
This way it becomes a perfect way to help the environment and to stay fit.
To have an idea, it is estimated that it can burn more than 300 calories in 30 minutes, because it is an aerobic activity that has a caloric expenditure higher than just running, because it works other muscle groups making lifts and squats each time we collect some waste.
But it has to be faced in a calmer way, the motto is to exercise, have fun and find and collect waste. If it is done very fast it is possible to pass over the garbage without seeing it and, still, have a physical injury when breaking sharply or even lifting weight quickly.
Currently the initiative is already present in more than 100 countries and, every day, more than 20.000 people “run around the planet”, that is, dedicate to get the garbage during the sports practice. Who practices it, shares images, using the hashtag #Plogging in their pictures of running and waste collection, increasing the efficacy of this sport.
Sources:
https://www.lanacion.com.ar/lifestyle/plogging-deporte-une-ejercicio-conciencia-ambiental-nid2263862
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November 2022 
