On the 50^th anniversary of Earth Day today a number of run retailers are bringing their eco-efforts to the streets of their towns in a unique community event even during a pandemic.

It’s called Plogging. What the heck, you might ask, is Plogging? It is the combination of jogging while picking up trash. Plogging was started in Sweden and now has become all the rage in Europe.

Fleet Feet Fort Wayne has taken the concept and made it its Earth Day social distancing engagment activity – an Earth Day Plogging Challenge. The store is asking participants to:

* Walk/Run in their neighborhood.

* Do this while Social Distancing/Individually (of course),

* Bring a Trash Bag and pick up Litter while Running/Walking.

* Post a Picture on Instagram

* Tag Fleet Feet Fort Wayne on Instagram/Facebook @fleetfeetftw

Those Plogging participants who post a picture with their bag or bags of trash collected after their run/walk will be entered into a Fleet Feet Fort Wayne Gift Card Raffle.

https://www.facebook.com/events/2665668066988627/?__mref=mb

Meanwhile, down in South Carolina Palmetto Running Company, which had a number of significant events planned throughout April and May in conjunction with its Eco Initiative, had to cancel its Earth Day 5K (along with all of the events surrounding it) but decided to combine them all into a virtual Earth Day Plog! Here’s how it will work today:

* Participants register online for free, but with encouragement to make a donation to the CCL (Coastal Conservation League).

* Participants are asked to run/walk/skip do whatever while also picking up litter around town. 

* Participants post photos using hashtag #prcecoplog . 

* PRC then chooses (at random) a participant from the photos to receive a free pair of Brooks shoes of their choice.