'Plogging'…the new fitness trend that keeps both humans and mother earth healthy!

The newest fitness craze is supposed to improve the health of both humans and Mother Earth. It’s called “plogging,” and requires people to pick up trash while on a run. The term is a portmanteau of jogging and “plocka upp,” Swedish for “pick up,”according to The Washington Post. Plogging started in Sweden, but has started to pick up followers all over the world, based on the many Instagram photos that are popping up with the #plogging hashtag. Plogging has benefits beyond the sense of self-satisfaction that comes from making the world a slightly cleaner place: It actually burns more calories than merely jogging.

The Swedish-based fitness app Lifesum, which considers plogging a legitimate exercise, says a 30-minute plog burns around 288 calories, compared to 235 calories burned just from jogging. Plus, Mashable notes that bending over to pick up debris allows a person to get in some squats and lunges to boot. Of course, it’s better if you come prepared with a trash bag, but you can always improvise, as U.K.-based ecologist and journalist Kathryn Bland demonstrates below.
Many people, like Emily Wright of Alexandria, Virginia, had plogged for a while before learning the activity actually had a name. Some of the items Wright picks up include cigarette butts, plastic bottles and “an alarming number of full diapers. They turn my stomach the most,” she told The Washington Post.
But while plogging isn’t always pleasant, it’s the alternative that scares her more.
“It’s not that I don’t think it’s gross to pick it up. I do. But I also think it’s gross for a person to not take responsibility for it.”