This Swedish export combines jogging or hiking with picking up trash. What’s not to love?
Plogging—a portmanteau of jogging and the Swedish term plocka upp, which means “pick up”—was created in 2016 by Erik Ahlstrom, a Swedish runner who was tired of seeing so much trash on his daily jogs. Thanks to the Swedish communities and beyond who are committed to caring for their local parks, trails, and communities, the movement has grown worldwide since then, with official plogging groups running for good in more than 40 countries, from Chile to India.
The beauty of plogging is that it doesn’t matter how or where you do it—you simply head out in nature and make your community and the natural environment a better place in the process. “It combines two wonderful things that people are already doing: moving in nature and doing good,” says Nathan Dopp, CEO of the North American branch of Swedish outdoor brand Fjällräven, which has started organizing plogging events in the U.S. “And the outings are really fun, inclusive, and communal.” With Earth Day rapidly approaching, now is the perfect time to hop on board with Sweden’s latest export.
stock Wix photo