EXCLUSIVE: Plogging In Baguio City – Get Fit, Help The Environment

There’s a new fitness craze going around – plogging. Starting out in Europe, plogging combines jogging with picking up garbage along the way. The green fitness trend has reached Baguio City, with a group of 10 running enthusiasts and joggers doing the first plogging event on Mar. 16.

Pilipinas Popcorn reached out to one of the organizers of the event. Stephanie Abnasan gladly answered our interview questions and here is our exclusive about it.

Plogging n Baguio City: 5 Things To Know

Stephanie Abnasan is a full-time medical intern at the SLU Hospital. She is also a part-time runner. Having read about plogging in Europe, one day she decided to forego improving her running record and include picking up garbage along her running route.

1. Plogging originated in Scandanavia. The name is a combination of Swedish words “ploccka up,” which means to pick up, and “joggning” which means jogging. The fitness trend caught on quickly in Europe, with hundreds of athletes taking on the cause.

2. In Baguio City, the first plogging event involved 10 runners. According to Stephanie, they collected 6 big garbage bags within an hour of plogging. The route they took was around Panagbenga Park, Military Cut-off, South Drive and Loakan Drive.

After she did plogging on her own, she shared a post on social media about it. She was overwhelmed with the positive reactions that she decided to bring in more people to help.

3. Baguio Ploggers now has a community page on Facebook. They will use the page to share their activities and encourage more volunteers to sign up. Baguio City residents are also encouraged to join future group events.

4. The group is planning their next event during Holy Week. It will be timely, as the Summer Capital will surely be filled with tourists and visitors. And with such a large crowd comes so much garbage.

Stephanie also shared that they will do something for Earth Day which is on April 22, Sunday. Watch out for updates on the Baguio Ploggers page.

5. The good thing about plogging is that it is easy to do. It does not require special equipment, just you in your running attire, a garbage bag and some safety gloves. Stephanie says that you also don’t need to do it with a big group, although this makes it more fun.

She adds, “Making the activity regular can be done individually. Along your neighborhood or any street you pass by, you can plog away!” She also hopes that small acts like these will help in a big way, maybe even pave the way for a garbage-free Baguio.