Chennai | A citizen group ‘plogs’ — jogs and picks up litter enroute

Chennai Ploggers
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

Three weeks ago, Shanthni Mahalingam had visited Sathyam Cinemas to catch a film. “This person next to me ripped open a packet of popcorn seasoning and threw it on a freshly cleaned floor. Someone had just taken the effort to mop the place. It was heart-breaking to see,” she says.

An educator today, Shanthni says that conversations about littering and bursting crackers with her teachers when she was a student, helped her realise her own contribution to the world’s growing garbage piles at dump yards. Although she has been mindful over the years, she has felt that much of it was practised in isolation. Incidents like this remind her that it is important to take a larger message forward, especially at her home turf in Chennai. A recent, more proactive approach to ‘cleaning up after oneself’ has led to the formation of her two-edition old initiative — Chennai Ploggers.

Picking up litter and bagging them
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement

Here, enthusiasts with a penchant for fitness, pick up litter as they jog.

The spark arose when Shanthni’s interactions with Vivek Gurav, founder of Pune Ploggers, became frequent back in 2021. “He was receiving an award and I was the product manager of the event. The philosophies and connections were both organic and in-sync. When I asked Vivek to begin a chapter in Chennai, he said ‘You’re a person of action. Why don’t you begin one yourself.’ That is basically the origin story,” she says.

Although plogging events have been conducted in Chennai before, Shanthni is hoping to build a community around the initiative. In the two editions held till date at Besant Nagar and T Nagar over two months, Shanthni and her team have tried to form plogging routes that residents of the neighbourhood can regularly choose to take if they wished to plog more often. The idea is to set up chapters across Chennai so that littering can be contained. Beaches are not the only locations in the city that require regular cleaning, the founder says.

A volunteer from Chennai Ploggers
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement

Bits of paper

A typical event by the Chennai Ploggers happens once a month at around 5.45am to beat the heat. Enthusiasts from all age groups gather and are briefed. “We typically tell them to ensure that road safety instructions are followed. It is not essential that one jogs. Walking will do. We also drive home the message that ploggers do not litter themselves. We strongly discourage usage of single-use plastic during the event,” she says.

After the briefing, a 45-minute plogging exercise is conducted. Here, Shanthini says, is where the fun begins.

“Chennai has truly surprised me in terms of turnouts. We’ve had both sizable registrations and a healthy number of volunteers showing up to help. The most heartening bit is to see people becoming the best of friends — laughing and joking around — at the end of the 45 minutes,” she says.

Volunteers taking part in a plogging drive.
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement

Her favourite recent plogging memory involves a six-year-old who accompanied her mother on the most recent drive in T Nagar. “The gloves that we gave for picking up trash didn’t even fit her but she wore rubber bands and helped her mother clean with so much enthusiasm. It was wonderful to see and helped us understand that early sensitisation helps,” she says. It also helps everyone involved develop more empathy and graciousness for the workers of the Greater Chennai Corporation who sweep and clean streets relentlessly, despite recurring instances of littering and trash.

When asked if she has a vision for Chennai, Shanthni says that she is not keen on emulating other foreign cities. “I have seen dirt-filled neighbourhoods in London, Dubai and Singapore too. My aim is to ensure that we take care of our city, homes and of ourselves,” she adds.

Chennai Ploggers will be meeting for the third plogging drive on October 27 near Don Bosco School, Egmore. To register, follow them on Chennai Ploggers on Instagram.