Plogging: The New SM Trend of Picking Up Trash While Staying Fit

Plogging is where people are encouraged to use their morning jog to pick up any rubbish they find on their route.

Plogging is a trend where people are encouraged to pick up trash from the ground while they have gone out jogging. 

(Photo Courtesy: Twitter/@megancoxcomms)

In an attempt to promote a cleaner environment, a new trend emerged in Sweden late last year – “plogging”. This trend has now come to India.

According to a report by The Indian Express, the term “plogging” comes from the words jogging and “plocka upp” which in Swedish means “pick up”.

Simply put, “plogging” refers to picking up trash from the streets while going out jogging. Other than India, the practice has become popularised in the United States and United Kingdom as well, the report adds.

A report by The Times of India refers to a group of 18 people who, over Easter weekend, spent their break in a “plogging” party of sorts in Kodaikanal.

In an initiative led by Bengaluru resident Jacob Cherian, these 18 people who hailed from different parts of India such as Chennai, Mumbai and Kerala, were invited by him for a plogging and camping getaway, which he hosted at his house in Kodaikanal.

To Cherian, the entire idea of exercising while picking up trash just makes the activity much cooler, TOI reports.

If you say, ‘let’s go pick up garbage’, people think you’re crazy. No one wants to be that stupid fellow picking up trash alone, but if we do it together, you overcome the stigma. And you can clean up much faster.

Jacob Cherian told <i>TOI</i>

In another part of the country, musician Daniel Langthasa and his wife Avantika, were incorporating “plogging” into their daily routine in Assam, reports The Indian Express.

The couple were motivated into adopting the practice as a combined result of their wish to endorse a healthier lifestyle, as well as a growing concern about the unhygienic environment on the roads in their locality.

We thought plogging would be a good motivation for us to work on our health and at the same time start cleaning the litter we had been seeing all around us.

Daniel Langthasa told <i>The Indian Express</i>

A report by Business Standard quotes data from the fitness app Lifesum, which states that one hour of “plogging” could burn upto 288 calories on an average, with the added benefit that those adopting this practice would “simultaneously be cleaning up their local communities”.

The report also mentions that the founder of the impromptu movement is a 57-year-old Swede named Erik Ahlström.

Social Media on Plogging

The trend has reportedly become viral largely due to social media, in the west especially.

Twitter, Facebook and Instagram users have been promoting “plogging” on the various platforms.

On Instagram too, it has remained a trending hashtag for a while.

So, will you be “plogging” this weekend?

(With inputs from The Times of India, The Indian Express and Business Standard)