The concept of this top fitness trend is to head out for a jog or a run as usual. That said, while you’re plogging you’ll have one extra piece of fitness equipment with you. Don’t worry, it’s not expensive or complicated. It’s just a garbage bag!
What is this Plogging Top Fitness Trend?
Plogging is a combination of jogging or running while picking up litter. It found its start in Sweden in 2016. This year, it has exploded in other countries, thanks to social media. The term is a combination of the word “jogging” with the Swedish words “plocka upp” which means picking up.
Although the most obvious benefits to this top fitness trend are that you get a workout and a cleaner neighborhood, there’s more to it. Plogging is being praised for adding new workout benefits for joggers to enjoy.
How is Plogging a Better Workout than Jogging?
This top fitness trend took off because of its eco-friendliness. However, many people find that it helps to improve their workout, too. When you think about it, it makes a lot of sense. Plogging isn’t just the same as running down the sidewalk.
Plogging offers variation from the standard running and jogging movements. People who use it are not only helping to overcome litter and plastic pollution. They’re also reaching, bending, stretching and squatting. Moreover, they’re also carrying an increasingly heavy bag throughout their run. Indeed, the majority of the trash is quite light, but every little bit counts!
A Top Fitness Trend in the United States
Social media fell in love with the concept of plogging. This rapidly made it a top fitness trend this year, not even two full years after it was first created. It is encouraged both among joggers and from larger organizations, too.
The Keep America Beautiful Organization has officially started to encourage its affiliates to take part in plogging. It has also started combining the concept into some of its other programs. For example, in Tennessee, they have launched the Trashercize program to combine exercise with cleaning up.
This Top Fitness Trend Has Made Trash Bags Trendy
The first people to take part in plogging rapidly became accustomed to receiving odd looks from people. They were, after all, running through the streets with garbage bags in their hands. However, as social media educated people as to what that symbol meant, the impression rapidly changed.
Suddenly, this top fitness trend has created an entirely new opinion of garbage bags. In fact, it has made plastic shopping bags or black plastic garbage bags into a hot fitness accessory. Joggers who don’t want to keep their hands full the whole time are lining their pockets with plastic bags, so they can grab small pieces of trash they spot along their routes.
Top Fitness Trend on Social Media
Plogging spread the world by way of social media. It started off with a few stories on Facebook. Then it built to some trending hashtags on Twitter. These were shared on an increasing basis, particularly when images were involved.
Speaking of images, the more interest rose, the more people started to share the spoils of their plogging adventures on Instagram. It has become quite popular to create a pile of the garbage found along a jogging journey and photograph it for gawking followers. This has only encouraged more people to take part to see if they can find more than the people they follow.
A Top Fitness Trend Across Other Activities
As fast as plogging has taken off in Sweden, England, France, the United States, Canada and many other countries around the world, it has also evolved. The idea of picking up trash while exercising is exceptionally appealing to many people.
It lets them keep their workouts interesting and gives them another reason to feel great about what they’re doing. It doesn’t hurt to have something to do aside from daydreaming about the luxury beach villa http://villarentalsmexico.com/ vacation you’ve always wanted to take!
After all, if you’re tired of doing the same jogging route all the time, giving yourself a trash hunting goal can bring the interest level back again. Of course, this benefit couldn’t remain exclusive to joggers and runners for long. After all, there are many other sports and as spring gets into full gear, more people are heading out to get active.
Picking up trash has become a top fitness trend for cyclists, skateboarders and inline skaters, too. Even power walkers are getting into the swing of things.
The Story of “Trash Girl”
Among the stories that drew the most attention to plogging was of a 12-year-old in England. Nadia Sparkes made a habit of always stopping to pick up trash on her way to school. She rode her bike to school and made sure to take the time to pick up the garbage she saw along the way.
Bullies who didn’t realize this was a top fitness trend – and a highly respected one – harassed her. They nicknamed Nadia “Trash Girl.” They took every opportunity they could to taunt and ridicule her. They even started to throw things at her.
What the bullies didn’t realize was that they weren’t going to stop Nadia. If anything, they were showing that the only thing that was garbage was their own attitudes. In Nadia’s own words, “If they are going to call me Trash Girl, they can say it with respect.” She knew that by filling her bicycle basket with litter she picked up on the way to school, she was making her community better.
Nadia’s route was about two miles long and she made her best effort to ensure the stretch of roadside remained clean. It wasn’t long before social media took notice of what “Trash Girl” was doing. Unlike the closed-minded bullies at her school, the world fell in love with Nadia’s new spin on this top fitness trend.
At the encouragement of her mother she has owned the Trash Girl name along with her cycling and litter pickup. Since September, she has cycled at least four miles per day and has picked up over three full recycling bins worth of plastic.
How to Get Started with the Top Fitness Trend?
If you want to take part in the top fitness trend, it’s not hard at all. Just choose an activity that will take you outside. This may be walking, jogging, running, cycling or anything else that will have you traveling throughout your neighborhood.
Next, gear up, grab a garbage bag and head out on your way. As you go, keep your eyes open to watch for pieces of trash that you can pick up and bring home with you. Look for everything that doesn’t belong.
Among the most common types of trash along the roadsides are pieces of paper, plastic water bottles and cans. In most communities, these are all recyclable items. This means that they can be taken off the streets without having a negative impact on landfills.
Many ploggers find that the best days for coming home with trash from this top fitness trend are garbage pickup days. Despite the best efforts of neighbors, wind or garbage collection errors can send trash out of the bins and down the street. This gives ploggers new opportunities to make a difference.
What to Do with the Spoils from this Top Fitness Trend
Once you get home, you may be tempted to jam the entire contents of your bag into your trash can. However, if you truly want to make a difference through this top fitness trend, there are other steps you can take.
The first is to snap a picture of everything you’ve collected. After all, it’s fun to take part of the social media side of this top fitness trend, too. Share what you found along the way and don’t forget to use applicable hashtags to get the most mileage out of it.
Next, sort through everything you’ve found. If your municipality recycles, has a compost service and other alternatives to regular garbage, use them. Place each item in the right bin so you won’t solve one problem by compounding another.
Once you’ve done that, it’s important to wash your hands and to do it well. The odds are that you won’t want to head out jogging while wearing plastic gloves. That’s not a problem, but don’t forget to give your hands a good scrubbing when you’re done!
Trash to Avoid Picking Up
There are certain kinds of trash that you should avoid picking up unless you’re sure you know what you’re doing. The last thing this top fitness trend is designed to do is cause you harm.
Among the items you should leave alone include syringes, razors, razor blades, bandages, condoms and anything else that could cut you or that has been in contact with another person’s bodily fluids. These are items that require more than a garbage bag for safe collection.
If you’re determined to pick them up, make sure you have the right equipment with you while you enjoy this top fitness trend. Alternately, call your local waste collection authority for advice for safe collection and disposal.