My Earth Day Endeavor

Has this ever happened to you?

On a recent long run, a portion of my route was a littered mess with not only garbage, but also numerous discarded "mini shot bottles." 

My conclusion was that some of the nearby tire plant's employees were either frustrated with their jobs or disliked whomever was waiting back at home for them, LOL. While it's not my place to judge people for their drinking habits, I did feel a strong compulsion to at least pick up some of their rubbish.

Hence, I deemed my Wednesday run a pre-Earth Day plogging endeavor. 

Have you ever gone plogging?

By definition:

"Plogging is a term invented by Erik Ahlström referring to the act of picking up trash and litter while jogging. It is a portmanteau of the Swedish term plocka upp, which means "to pick up," and jogging. Gloves recommended." (source)

As mentioned, I'd noticed a lot of those mini shot bottles on a previous run (Saturday's 8-miler, in fact), so I decided to return to part of the route and do some clean-up. Ironically, those little bottles are worth the $.05 Iowa redemption had they not been so carelessly tossed from their owners' vehicles. Well, I wasn't hoping to cash-in on a huge financial gain (all told, of the 19 bottles I recovered, one of them was pretty mangled...thus, the salvageable 18 mini bottles netted me a whopping $.90 for my efforts, LOL).

Anyways, here's five highlights and observations from this plogging endeavor... 

This wasn't my first time, but it was my longest plogging route to date. I'm no stranger to the plogging gig. In fact, I usually do this a few times a year, especially on Earth Day (which is on Saturday, April 22nd). That said, I really should make an effort to do it more frequently (#MyBad). Typically, I usually do a 2-mile walk (or run) because it get's tricky carrying the trash bags, for any length of time, once the trash starts accumulating. For this particular adventure, I planned on running six miles knowing the bulk of the bottles would be found in the 3rd and 4th mile...hence the first two miles were without incident.

The weather made for a few challenges. We all know I love my hot weather, but the 73F temps were feeling especially hot (and humid) because this was my first "hot weather run" of the season. In other words, I hadn't yet had a chance to acclimate to such warm conditions. Also, I ran an an out-and-back route, which had me running due south for the first 2-1/2 miles, into a nasty 14mph headwind. Even  the short 1/2-mile west (and then 1/2-mile east, after the turnaround) was tough because it didn't have any major buildings for wind shelter. In fact, I didn't realize just how hot I was until I stopped to use the restroom in Central Park, at the 5-mile mark, and noticed how sweaty my face was in the mirror.

There were numerous starts and stops. Like I said, there were 19 bottles that I picked up, though I'm sure there were probably several that I didn't notice. That being said, not only did I have to stop (and re-start) 19 times, I also had to bend over and/or squat 19 times as well. 

The bottles were disgusting. Silly me, I didn't think to bring gloves. I was able to use the bag to pick up some of the bottles at first, but with the crazy wind it was just easier to use my bare hands. I know, ewww!

The bag made for a very awkward and challenging run. Once I'd cleared the 4-mile mark, I didn't see any more (visible) bottles along the road, probably because I was back in more of a residential area. Carrying the bag really presented a challenge because all the bottles kept bouncing inside. Thankfully, the bottles all were plastic, so they weighed practically nothing, but they were bulky! It wasn't until my potty stop, near the 5-mile mark, that I figured out to twist the bag's "handles" really tight, thus compressing the contents. Doing so enabled me to carry the "compressed bag" under my arm, much like a football.

By the time I 'd made it back home, I was completely and utterly exhausted. No doubt the heat had gotten to me, but also the 6-mile run itself. I blame the 19 spontaneous deep squats, the 14mph head wind in the first two miles (thankfully with a still-empty bag, LOL) and the awkward 2-mile jaunt back home with that cumbersome bag full of bottles. Truthfully, not being able to swing my bag-carrying arm really threw off my stride and made those final miles really tough.

But, would I do this again? YES!!!! It's unfortunate there are those who are inconsiderate of the  environment, but it's great that there are others who are willing to pick up the slack. I'm honored to do my part, and I feel it's a small (and relatively easy) way of giving back. 

So, what ya say?

Do you have any plans for Earth Day? Have you ever plogged before, while on a walk or a run? Ever tried running with one "non-swinging" arm?

I'm linking this with Michelle, Renee, Darlene, Jenn and Zenaida for the Fit Five Friday Link-up.

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