Before we start, let’s have a stab at guessing what on earth ‘plogging’ might actually be? I mean it sorta sounds like blogging, so is it some kind of plyometric blogging thing where you blog whilst jumping, hence combating desk based slovenliness? Or maybe it’s to do with logging your pee (get it…p-logging 😉 ) I mean we’re all being told to drink more water and surely it’s only natural the next stage is matching your pee to a Pantone colour chart to check your health?
OK, OK so it’s neither of these things, (although I reckon I may have hit on two future health trends here!) I’ll give you a few clues…
- It originated in Sweden (all good trends start in Scandinavia!)
- It combines two Swedish words – ‘plocka’ and ‘joggning’.
Plocka meaning pick and joggning meaning ummmm….jogging does exactly what it says on the tin, picking up whilst jogging. Yep, plogging is basically litter picking whilst jogging!
Not the most glamorous of past times I’ll grant you, but in these current climes of heightened environmental awareness, in particular our increasing concerns over the levels of plastic found dumped in our oceans, it’s a fitness trend that comes with substantial benefits.
You see aside from the eco credentials, there’s some actual fitness benefits to be had as well, just think of all that stop starting, bending down, reaching, stretching etc., honestly it’s a proper good workout. Just make sure you’ve got a bag and some gloves, no one needs slimy banana skin and dirty bin juice leaking all over them, and don’t even get me started on those glass bottles filled with dubious looking amber liquid left discarded outside the local pub…we all know what’s in there!
Cynics may argue that runners are perhaps some of the worst trash offenders out there, I mean have you seen all those plastic cups and empty energy gel packets scattered on the grounds of most run events!?! Perhaps then it’s karma that it’s those very offenders that find themselves naively embroiled in a community service labelled as en vogue.
With apps, such as Plastic Patrol in which users can map plastic anywhere in the world by collecting discarded items, photographing and then uploading them, plogging movements starting up in Paris, Thailand and the UK, and of course the place where it all began – the Plogga website, plogging is big news. But the big question is would you be happy introducing it to your run routine?
Like the trendy words before it (think Hygge, Lagom etc.) Plogging is set to become the ‘in’ thing and we quite like the fact that perhaps, just perhaps, it might get people running who have never really seen the point of running before.
Would you have a go at Plogging?
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