What I've Discovered so far while Plalking

Well... this has been fascinating. Every morning I go for a quick walk in our neighbourhood, about 15 minutes in total. The first day after discovering Plalking, I stuffed my pockets with a couple of grocery store bags. I was a bit shocked to discover that there was enough garbage to fill two grocery bags. Mind you, some of the stuff had been there for quite a while, so I'm hoping that there will be much less in the future. Lately, I'm only finding a few candy wrappers, the odd beer can along the road or maybe some cigarette wrappers.

One thing I've noticed is that I still have a bit of a hurdle to get over... there is a small voice in my head that, after seeing a piece of trash lying on the ground, goes something like this:

Should I pick that up?
It's just a small piece of garbage...
Someone else might pick it up...
There's a car coming... they will think you are weird for picking up trash...
Heck... the people in these houses will think you are weird for picking up trash...
Maybe... people will think I am doing "community service" by picking up trash!! Ack!

Reusable grocery bag in brambles

And on it goes. I have to have a fairly rigorous conversation with myself to get over these hurdles... but so far, I am managing it... mostly. And it's not just me... that internal dialogue happens in a lot of people!

Back when I was growing up, there was a family friend, a rich guy, who, when he retired, would go around town dressed in "shabby" clothes picking up pop and beer bottles. There was a lot of judgement around him...

And... at university in the 1980s, one my profs was seen around campus picking up cans and bottles as well. He actually started a scholarship fund with the proceeds which had reached $46,000 by the time he died in 2012. There was less judgement around him... although he was known as "quirky" which is a step up from "eccentric".

As one blogger said, picking up trash is breaking a taboo. It normalizes an activity that many frown upon and encourages others to pick up trash as well. And the more trash there is lying around, the more people feel it is OK to just add theirs to the pile. When I pick up trash, I'm demonstrating pride in a community... that I care about our neighbourhood and the environment. Which apparently sets a good example for others. I try to keep that in mind but... it's easier out in the woods where I'm quite happy to pick up trash as long as there is nobody around! I guess I'm still in development with letting go of the fear of being judged by others!

Here are a few things I've picked up recently...

• doggy doo-doo bags (full ones) left along the side of the trail. I totally understand. You've just started your hike and the dog goes poopies. Do you really want to carry that full poopy bag the whole hike? No. I know this because my Mom used to do this with our dog. But she would come back out that same way and pick up the bag(s). So, I did debate that the owner of these might come back and get them... but they were in the middle of the hike... so I decided to take them and leave the owner to wonder what happened to them.
• men's underwear and other pieces of clothing - left in the picnic area of a local park... apparently it has different activities at nighttime 
• pop and beer cans ($$)
• burnt aerosol cans where someone, kids I presume,  had a fire out in the bush
• a brand new but ripped reusable grocery bag - hanging in the brambles for several days before I grabbed it on my first day of Plalking...
• lots and lots of Tim Horton's coffee cups... no Starbucks cups though... perhaps Starbucks drinkers are more eco-conscious? Or just don't go hiking?
• a sway bar - obviously some vehicle is now swaying a bit more after losing that bit along the roadside... 

I have to say... my eye has now become attuned to garbage along the side of the road... and there is a lot more than I had expected. Maybe I just didn't notice it before?

What the Heck is Plogging and Plalking??

I've been going on some local hiking adventures the last few weekends. Just me, myself and I. I've been going to local places, mostly off the beaten path, that I've been meaning to explore for a while. I have my backpack with a few essentials:

• rain jacket
• water bottle
• bear spray
• first aid kit
• toilet paper (just cause you never know)
• flashlight
• garden kneeling pad (a seat cushion for soggy moss)

Which seems fairly comprehensive for a one to two hour hike but... lately, I've been thinking I need to include something else... some plastic grocery bags. Because, the more I hike, the more I see bits and pieces of garbage lying around. A Tim Horton's cup, a chocolate bar wrapper, a beer can. In the weirdest places. I'm not sure what that's about but... as I walk by the piece of trash, I keep thinking... "I should have a plastic bag... I could pick that up...".

But... I never put bags in my backpack and... voila... the cycle continues. Excuse me, while I get up and go and fix that right now...

***author will be right back***

 Done.  Thanks to Covid-19, we are pretty flush with plastic grocery bags at the moment, given the ban on reusable bags. I am now prepped for whatever might come my way. Mostly.

I was doing a bit of research for this blog and, much to my surprise, learned that this picking-up-of-garbage while out in nature is a "thing". Actually three things: Plogging - picking up garbage while jogging... Plalking - picking up garbage while walking... and Pliking - picking up garbage while biking (could be hiking too).

Some Plalkers or Ploggers....

The idea comes from the Swedish term "plocka upp" (translation: "pick up"), because the Swedes apparently started this craze. Trust the Swedes to be on the cutting edge of environmental stewardship.

I have to admit though... I haven't seen a lot of joggers whipping by carrying plastic bags full of garbage... so this might have been a passing fad from the 2018s...

Although, the City of Winnipeg has a Plalking Club... so maybe it's not so out of date.

I love the concept because.. to be truthful... the guilt is getting to me. Every time I am out in the woods and see a piece of trash, I have a major debate with myself... "Should I pick that up? It's not my trash. Someone else will pick it up. Maybe they will come back for it?" It's kind of ridiculous really because ultimately, I'm the one standing there, looking at the piece of trash. And I'm the one who walks away from it struggling with a gnawing feeling of guilt.

It's such a small thing to pick up some trash and carry it out to a garbage can... and/or recycle bin. It's not like I see bags and bags of garbage when I'm out there. Plus... given the number of pop and beer cans I see, I could even make a bit of cash doing this.

I read a couple of blogs about Plogging which had some helpful suggestions for other items I could toss into my backpack:

• gloves (rubber grip or latex gloves)
• grabber (long-handled)
• wide mouth screw top container for sharps/needles
• hand sanitizer
• closed toed shoes
• luggage scale (to weigh the haul)

***author will be right back ***

My Plalking kit...

Alright, I now have a pair of garden gloves in my backpack (the ones with the rubberized fronts) and a couple of pairs of latex gloves. I also rummaged through the recycle box and pulled out a wide-mouth plastic peanut butter jar. I'm not sure I'll be picking up any sharps/needles but... still a good thing to have in the backpack. I am going to pass on the grabber thing as well as the luggage scale, neither of which we have at home. The hand sanitizer is a bit of a tricky thing at the moment given how hard it is to find any in the stores. I'll keep looking and see if I can find some of those little travel sized ones...

While I'm at it... I'm adding some plastic grocery bags to various jacket pockets as well. My partner and I go for a couple of walks a day and while we don't see a lot of garbage... when we do, it would be nice to have a plastic bag ready instead of walking by the piece of trash with a guilty conscience. I think I'll toss some into the vehicle as well... just to cover my bases.

I'm also thinking I should pack some bread bags. When I put toilet paper on the list of backpack supplies, I realized that I should probably scoop the toilet paper and/or poop produced by my own activities. Ahem...

On top of the eco-benefits of Plogging/Plalking/Pliking... there are also health benefits. Apparently bending over whilst walking is good for cardiovascular health as it mimics our hunter-gather forebears who would walk long distances while stopping along the way to pick berries and dig roots. Go figure.

Pink plastic tote lid in meadow

Now... there are times where I come across some odd trash items. Like the other day, I was hiking off trail through a meadow when I came across a lid from a plastic tote... Perhaps it blew off of a truck on the nearby highway and ended up in the meadow? Or perhaps there was an old homeless camp nearby... The lid would be a bit of a bigger challenge to hike out because it's large and unwieldy. I also come across abandoned homeless camps on a regular basis, complete with old tents and tarps and goodness knows what else. These too are a bit of a problem. Way too much for me to pack out. I did, however, learn that there is a group of volunteers in the city that clean up these old encampments. Just have to let them know where it is. Cool...

I've had the intention to pick up garbage on my daily walks for quite a while now (months, if not years) but today, I've taken a few small steps which will make it much more likely that I will actually do it when I'm out hiking and/or walking. And each piece of garbage that I pick up is one less piece out in the woods or on the strets. 

Sooo... have you heard of Plogging/Plalking/Pliking? Do you participate in this eco-friendly activity?? Found anything cool and interesting in your trash travels?