#HTE

New Swedish Fitness Trend, “Plogging,” Combines Jogging with Picking Up Litter

When Erik Ahlström moved from Åre, a ski resort town in central Sweden to Stockholm, he had a strong first impression of the capital: “Det ser ju ut som en soptipp,” which translates as “It looks like a dump.” Ahlström, an environmentalist, was put off by the amount of litter on the streets and in the parks, and resolved to do something about it.

Ahlström’s solution is pretty outside-of-the-box: He somehow managed to organize groups of joggers–armed with garbage bags and gloves–to lope through Stockholm with him, picking up litter as they go. He calls the practice “plogging,” which combines the Swedish verbs “to pick” and “to jog.”

There are no English subtitles here, but you don’t need them to understand what’s going on:

Incredibly, it has caught on and become a downright trend. Check out #plogging on Instagram.

This dedicated fitness mom even does it while pushing her kid on a stroller, taking breaks to do inverted crunches:

The trend has also spread to France:

And to the UK:

Fitness nut Kathryn Bland in Cornwall, a dedicated plogger, also scored a paid gig cleaning a beach, where she’s made quite an impact:

Bland is your average young female fitness nut on Instagram, posting photos like this:

But you have to respect that she’s not afraid to get literally dirty:

Now that’s hardcore.