Keep Ewing Beautiful: Participate in the Sept 20th TrashDash

by Lynn Robbins

You’re invited to take part in a TrashDash plogging event Sunday, September 20. This national all-day event is open to everyone of all ages.

Join the Sustainable Ewing Green Team and Keep America Beautiful as we get rid of litter and create a cleaner, greener, safer community for all.

How to participate

Grab a bag, a pair of gloves, and a camera if you’d like to share photos. Choose a place to take a walk or jog and pick up any litter you find on your trek as we all join in to clean up our community while observing social distancing.

You can take photos along the way — the litter you find, a before and after comparison, your filled trash bag when finished, or whatever strikes you. Send your pictures plus any comments you wish to share to the Green Team at ewinggreenteam@gmail.com. We’ll post contributors’ results on our Facebook page. You can also post your experience on your favorite social media sites, Facebook, Twitter, etc., and on Instagram @KeepAmericaBeautiful. Use the hashtag #TrashDash or #DoBeautifulThings.

The word “plogging” combines “jogging” with the Swedish phrase, “plocka upp,” to pick up. The activity, started by Erik Ahlstrom around 2016, has grown to an international movement.

Spearheaded by Keep America Beautiful, the first TrashDash run in the United States took place last September. In addition to commonly found litter, this year TrashDash intends to bring awareness to the safety hazards of littered personal protective equipment (PPE), including used masks and gloves.

The organization describes TrashDash as “the engine to remove thousands of pounds of trash from neighborhoods, beaches, rivers, lakes, trails, and parks — reducing waste and plastic pollution, improving habitats, and preventing harm to wildlife and humans.”