Keep America Beautiful has partnered with Lifesum, the first health app to allow its 25 million users to log, track and estimate the number of calories burned while plogging, to turn the emerging trend into a habit.
Already adopted by thousands of Europeans (and now by American early adopters), plogging — a play on the Swedish ‘plocka upp’ (meaning ‘pick up’) and ‘jogging’ — is the act of picking up litter while running. Combining going for a jog with intermittent squatting, plogging offers exercise benefits while supporting your community and the environment.
Plogging is brilliant because it is simple and fun, while empowering everyone to help create cleaner, greener and more beautiful communities. Litter impacts our quality of life and economic development, and often ends up as marine debris, polluting our waterways and oceans and harming wildlife and the environment. With plogging, all you need is running gear and a bag for trash or recyclables, and you are not only improving your own health, but your local community, too.
Ready to get plogging? Consider this:
- You’re simultaneously keeping yourself, your community and the environment healthy!
- Thanks to Keep America Beautiful grant programs, many public parks and running trails have convenient trash and recycling bins – find one along your run or dispose of your plogging “treasures” when you get home. Who knows? Maybe you’ll find real treasure!
- Gather a group of fitness-minded friends and turn plogging into your own Great American Cleanup event.
- Exercising is a natural euphoria, so couple that with the amazing feeling you get knowing you’re giving back to your community and you’ll have the ultimate “runner’s high!”
- Plogging combines cardio and strength in your workout with every squat you take picking up litter to be thrown away or recycled. According to Lifesum, in 30 minutes of plogging a typical user will burn 288 calories.
- Based on where you live, you may be able to return any bottles, cans and other recyclables in for cash…and become a profitable plogger!
- Meeting people and socializing is inevitable once you hit the plogging trail – plus it makes for cool social posts #DoBeautifulThings #plogging
- Plogging is perfect for introverts who might not love the crowds of a community-wide volunteer event, but still want to lend a hand while moving their legs and feet!
- Tag photos of your plogging cleanup efforts using the hashtags #plogging and #DoBeautifulThings to encourage this growing community of eco-aware runners!
- Find a local Keep America Beautiful affiliate to help get connected to others who share your love for community and the environment.
(Photo Credit: Instagram @majatesch)