Plogging is a newfound form of sports activity that is quickly gaining popularity worldwide. This article will talk about plogging and its valuable benefits to society.
What is plogging?
Plogging is an activity that is a combination of jogging and picking up litter. You can either jog or perform other activities like walking or “taking a palk” and “piking” or plogging and hiking. You can do plogging anywhere at any time of the day. Whether you are out taking a walk or walking your dog, you can make the activity more productive by picking up trash on the way.
History and origin of plogging
Plogging is a new concept recently introduced in Sweden. That is where its name originates. It combines the English phrase “jogging” and the Swedish phrase “plocka upp”, meaning to pick up. It was started by Erik Ahlstrom in Stockholm, who began picking up trash while observing his daily jogging.
This activity became popular throughout Sweden and has become a global movement as a team sport with the help and awareness generated by social media. It was initiated by Erik Ahlstrom himself, who created the website Plogga to gain more volunteers.
Several organizations have developed in Sweden, the USA, and other parts of the world to encourage personal physical and environmental health.
Top benefits of plogging
Plogging offers more benefits than you can imagine. Here is a list of the top benefits that you can get from plogging personally and benefit the environment simultaneously.
Personal benefits
1. Improve physical health
Plogging, just like jogging, can help burn a lot of calories and improve your cardiovascular health. Plogging is a type of exercise that involves intense activity and can, in turn, help resolve health problems like obesity and blood pressure.
2. Stress-relief
It not only impacts your physical health but also helps improve your mental health. It relieves stress from the body due to intense exercise and also calms the mind. Being close to nature also develops a sense of comfort and happiness.
3. Social interaction
Instead of going alone, you can make it into a family or friends activity by encouraging them to participate in the activity. A team effort will enable you to yield better results and help you socialize with more and more people in the process.
4. Get closer to the environment
Plogging encourages you to explore the parks and other nearby places with a natural environment. It helps you feel closer to nature and lets you feel a sense of responsibility to conserve it.
Benefits to the environment
1. Decrease plastic pollution
Plastic trash is one of the biggest problems that nature is facing today. There are particles of plastic trash everywhere, including broken Styrofoam, plastic bags, plastic wraps, small pieces of foam, and other forms. This litter is very hard to remove, and you can assist in doing that by plogging thoroughly.
2. Clean up waterways
Many people throw their trash in the water, and the garbage on land is also washed away in water bodies. This trash is harmful to humans and animals and causes flooding or clogging of water pipes. You can prevent it by collecting litter from the water bodies in your local parks and other areas.
3. Save wildlife
The trash in water or land can harm wildlife, including animals and fish. It happens primarily through the water when the animals drink dirty water filled with trash. It can cause several diseases and choke fish. You are saving the animals from dying by this activity.
4. Prevent climate change
Climate change is a huge problem for living beings on this earth. The pollution and artificial changes to the environment are causing a massive shift in the climate that can be devastating for the planet. Healthy habits like plogging are the only way to prevent them from happening.
5. Reduce social cost
Public efforts like plogging can reduce the costs for the social issues in the city. According to data in 2015, cleaning costs were reduced by 2 billion due to activities like plogging.
Umer Hiyat
Plogging is great for group workouts and an excellent service to nature. It is a fun and healthy way of giving back to the environment. With the countless benefits of this simple sport, we can make the world a better place for the future.
