“Plogging” – the New Fitness Trend Perfect for Lovers of the Environment

A health trend from Sweden that can benefit whole communities.

plogging
Plogging is a way to get in shape and clean up your community.
Getty Images

Plogging is the latest fitness trend out of Sweden (of course) that involves cleaning up litter while jogging.

It was created by avid skier and trail runner, Erik Ahlström, according to BuzzFeed News, as a combination of “jogging” and “plocka upp,” which is Swedish for “pick up.”

Ahlström dates plogging to 2016, but the movement didn’t pick up steam until two years later. After the media focused its attention on the environmentalist’s healthy good deeds, the trend exploded on platforms like Instagram and Facebook where its no longer unusual to find organized plogging events.

The plogging movement has “reached all continents,” Ahlström told BuzzFeed News from New Zealand, where he was on a “plogging tour” to spread awareness and popularize the trend.

The majority of plogging’s “early adopters” were ultra runners, like Ahlström, who runs distances longer than marathons. He considers ploggers an “extension of the litter bin” in nature, where “no one is hired to pick up.” But, he said, plogging is an activity for all age groups and abilities.

“We try to encourage kids — they don’t expect it to be so fun,” Ahlström said. You don’t have to be a star athlete “to be good at plogging.”

The InsideHook Newsletter.

News, advice and insights for the most interesting person in the room.