On Saturday, Sept. 19, the City of Albuquerque had its Second Annual Junk Jog where citizens plogged — or picked up litter while jogging — to their heart’s content.
What started as a fitness trend in Sweden circa 2016, plogging — from the Swedish word “plokka up,” meaning “to pick up” — has made its way into the United States as a way for communities to come together for the environment and a brisk morning of exercise, according to the Washington Post.
Upon arrival at the Junk Jog, ploggers were met by a team from the City of Albuquerque and given trash bags, gloves and a mask. Participants were encouraged to pick their local routes and follow the various health guidelines concerning COVID-19, according to the City of Albuquerque’s website.
“Every piece of litter that participants pick up in their community during the Junk Jog helps us transform our neighborhoods into beautiful places,” Matthew Whelan, director of the Solid Waste Management Department, wrote on the City of Albuquerque’s website.
Keep Albuquerque Beautiful and Solid Waste Management hosted the event this year across locations in Albuquerque.
The annual event started last year when the City of Albuquerque hosted the First Annual Junk Jog, where participants jogged along the Bosque Trail to rid it of litter. The goal of this edition was to encourage active lifestyles while also beautifying the city.
Albuquerque citizen Tracy Jordan referred to the event as a “microcosm of community building” and a way to address the litter problem the city faces after she unloaded her car of the handful of trashbags she and her friends picked up earlier in the morning.
Gabriel Biadora is a freelance reporter at the Daily Lobo. He can be contacted at culture@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @gabrielbiadora
