When I started plogging last year, it was primarily to inculcate the habit of waking up early and running some miles before starting my day. I started doing this with Abhimanyu Chakravarty and before I knew it, we were knee-deep in the overwhelming plastic pollution problem in our city.  

Finding a balance is important

At first, it was a very difficult choice to make whether to run or to clean up the place we found ourselves in. It was essential to find a balance or else either problem, neither fitness nor plastic pollution would be fixed.

Discard plastic waste!

Over the months that followed, we collectively clocked the targeted miles as well as managed to collect enough discarded plastic waste to make a noticeable impact on the areas where we chose to run. 

Best Spot for plogging: ‘Sanjay Van’

One of my favorite spots to spend the early hours of the morning is the ‘Sanjay Van’ city forest. It is a beautiful place, lush green, filled with trees and diverse fauna. 

We chose to focus our efforts on this place, where every day numerous forms of plastic waste were being created by those who came there for morning walks and runs. We kept our focus on this majestic piece of natural splendor and did our best to clean it.

Stop the use of plastics!

Over the past 2 years, the practice of systematically battling plastic pollution has helped me discover a new side of my own self. I wasn’t active in addressing and pushing the message of the hazards of plastic pollution to the rest of my community. 

But now, it has become second nature. Not only do I know which plastics to actively avoid, but I have also learned about the recycling standards in India, the waste to energy practices, how plastic has changed the packaging industry in India as well as globally and why saying no to plastic now is more important than it has ever been before.

(The views expressed in the article are the author’s own. Let Me Breathe neither endorses nor is responsible for them.)