[New Word Dictionary] Plogging - The 'Good Running' of Picking Up Trash

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Heeyoon] The 19th-century French painter Jean-Fran?ois Millet's masterpiece "The Gleaners" is said to have been inspired by the biblical Book of Ruth. Ruth, a widow who had married into a foreign family and lost her husband early, lived with her mother-in-law and gathered leftover grain from the wealthy Boaz's fields in Bethlehem at dawn to survive. Through this connection, Ruth remarried Boaz and later gave birth to Obed, who fathered Jesse, who in turn fathered David, becoming an ancestor of Jesus. In harvest seasons, the grain left in the fields was traditionally reserved for those struggling with economic independence across cultures and eras. The Chinese classic "Book of Songs," in the "Great Field" section, contains the phrase, "The leftover sheaves and abandoned ears belong to the poor widow (彼有遺秉 此有滯穗)." French film director Agn?s Varda captured scenes of poor rural people gleaning fruits and crops from harvested farmland and orchards in her film "The Gleaners and I." As mass production has increased the amount of edible food discarded, some people have resorted to scavenging from trash bins to make meals, creating an urban gleaning scene.

Plogging is a compound word from the Swedish "Plocka Upp" (to pick up) and the English "Jogging," referring to the activity of running while picking up trash. As the etymology suggests, this movement started in Sweden and has been spreading worldwide beyond Europe and the United States, especially as plastic consumption surged during the COVID-19 pandemic, leading to more litter scattered across streets. Swedish fitness company Lifesum reported that while a person jogging for 30 minutes burns an average of 235 calories, plogging burns 288 calories. Just as the poor sought self-sufficiency by gleaning leftover grain in fields, plogging?picking up trash discarded on the streets today?is a small but necessary practice for coexistence with the Earth.

Example

A: It's so easy when eating, but why is it so hard and difficult when trying to lose weight?
B: That's just how the world works. By the way, my knees ache since I started running after not running for a while.
A: You're still young, so what will you do if your knees are already like that?
B: Oh, let's take it slow. Let's pick up some trash while running.
A: If you walk, it's not proper plogging. Let's pick up the pace!