Keep Albuquerque Beautiful, City Departments, and Community Partners join Forces to Host Plogging Event in the Bosque on Sept 21

Plogging, a combination of jogging and picking up litter, began several years ago as an organized activity in Sweden because of growing concerns about marine debris and litter. Now the fitness craze is coming to Albuquerque!

The public is invited to join Keep Albuquerque Beautiful, lululemon athletica ABQ Uptown, City of Albuquerque Solid Waste Management, and City of Albuquerque Parks and Recreation on Saturday, September 21, for the inaugural Keep Albuquerque Beautiful Junk Jog four mile plogging event.

Keep Albuquerque Beautiful, alongside the City Solid Waste Management Department and community partners are leading this trend in the Southwest by conducting plogging events to make communities cleaner, safer, healthier and more beautiful.

“Every piece of litter that participants pick up in the Bosque during the Junk Jog helps us transform our public spaces into beautiful places,” states Matthew Whelan, Director of the Solid Waste Management Department. “Plogging provides people with a unique opportunity to exercise while at the same time benefitting the community.”

Each plogger will receive a plastic garbage bag, gloves, and a litter grabber to pick up the trash, as well as an official t-shirt. At water stops along the route, volunteers from lululemon athletica ABQ Uptown will cheer participants on and help ploggers exchange filled garbage bags for new bags. At the end of the jog, each plogger’s trash will be weighed. Prizes will be given to the individual and group that collects the most litter.

Ploggers will have the opportunity to jog a four-mile loop while picking up litter along the Bosque Trail. Participants are invited to register now as individuals or to form Junk Jog teams to help keep Albuquerque’s Bosque trail beautiful.

Plog check-in on September 21 will be from 8 to 9 a.m. at the National Hispanic Cultural Center’s Northwest corner parking lot. Parking for participants is available at the National Hispanic Cultural Center.

Register and learn more at www.keepalbuquerquebeautiful.com