Plogging! The newest sensation. At least, the fact that it has a name is new. Courtesy of The Skimm, I learned that plogging is the act of picking up trash while running. Heck! I do this everyday. I love that it is now becoming a more widespread phenomenon and gaining attention. Clearly so many people do it that it is deserving of its own name.
Rumor has it, the health app Lifesum has a feature that helps people keep track of the amount of litter picked up. I haven’t personally checked this out, but it sounds awesome. Let me know if you look into and if it is as cool as it sounds.
As you may know, one of my biggest pet peeves is finding the beautiful area I live in full of trash, carelessly discarded. The other day I found a Wendy’s bag and several wrappers on my run. Mind you, Leelanau County does not have a single fast food restaurant. So as I stood there seething, I looked up Wendy’s on Google Maps. The closest one was 23 miles away. You couldn’t find a garbage can in 23 miles?? Are you tossing the bag out your car window as you get close to home so your spouse doesn’t know you snuck some fast food? (I’m onto you) Hell, it’s hard telling why people litter.
I also come across a ton of discarded beer cans on my runs. Largely they are cans of Bud Light, Busch, and Miller Light. I, of course, have come to the official conclusion that people who litter drink disgusting beer, (ahem, domestics). Finding these discarded cans off the side of the road leads me to believe that some open intox tickets should be distributed in my hood.
The other day I even ran by a mattress tossed into some grape vines on the edge of an orchard. A freaking mattress. What. This is not something I could “plog.” I could not pick up a mattress and carry it to the trash while running, sadly.
If everyone who ran participated in plogging, perhaps we would have a significant reduction in trash lingering in nature. I wish plogging didn’t have to exist and people would stop littering, but at least there is something we can do to help offset it. I recommend gloves and some reusable plastic grocery bags. And when I say I recommend gloves, I insist on gloves. That shiz is gross.
