For reasons other than health and wellness, people across the United States and around the world are joining the latest fitness craze, plogging.
Created in 2016, the term is a hybrid of the English word jogging and the Swedish term plocka upp, meaning “pick up,” and involves participants gathering litter while out jogging or running. Ploggers bring trash bags with them to help collect litter, and sometimes add rigorous elements like squatting or hill sprints for an added physical challenge. While plogging can clearly be good for your health, the trend’s recent rise in popularity has more to do with its environmental benefits and the increased awareness of plastic levels in the oceans. Ploggers believe they can have a huge impact in local communities and help eliminate unnecessary waste around the globe. Plogging gives the satisfaction of knowing you’re not just helping yourself, but also something much larger—the planet.
The trend is becoming so popular that Swedish fitness app Lifesum now allows users to log their plogging activity in the same way they can log running or walking, including calories burned. Lifesum also teamed up with the non-profit organization Keep America Beautiful so participants can log the amount of trash they’ve collected.
To see this new fitness craze in action, check out #Plogging on Instagram or other social media platforms, or join the fun and become a plogger yourself.