Mar 09, 2019 / Citizen

Techno India Group & Y-East organised Kolkata’s biggest Plogging Run

Kolkata, 9th March, 2019 – ‘Plogging Run’, picking up litter while jogging, an initiative of Techno India Group

was held Saturday March 9th, 2019 at Techno India Main Campus in the presence of Ms. Pauline Laravoire, Sustainability Director, Techno India Group & Mr. Meghdut Roy Chowdhury, Director of Global Operations, Techno India Group.

The concept of Plogging started as an organised activity in Sweden around 2016 and spread to other countries in 2018, following increased concern about plastic pollution. As a workout, it provides variation in body movements by adding bending, squatting and stretching to the main action of running, hiking, or walking. The ‘Plogging Run’ organised by Techno India this Saturday therefore encapsulated the combination of health and fitness, environmental awareness and pollution consciousness. More than 125 participants from different walks of life – college and university students, professors, fitness club members, regular runners and corporates ran in this initiative. It started at 7.30am from Techno India College Playground, and followed a 5-kilometer loop throughout Saltlake Sector V. The event gathered numerous organisations from across the city: Offbeat CCU as ecosystem partner, Ad My Bin and Vital Waste as waste management partners, Love Thyself for fitness and warm up, Mash Project and Techno India Samaritans as youth partners, and Kolkata Clean Air as cause partner. The reference organisation for plogging drives across India, Ploggers of India, also joined the race.

Speaking on the occasion, Ms. Pauline Laravoire, Sustainability Director, Techno India Group, who also ran the race, said, “‘Plogging Run’ is an initiative taken by Techno India Group and its newly established Sustainability wing Y-East to encourage new commitments to reduce plastic pollution and explore innovative ways to change the habits of design, production, consumption and disposal of plastic items. It also aims to make individuals realise that they have the duty and the power to take things into their own hands.”

Furthermore, Mr. Meghdut Roy Chowdhury, Director of Global Operations, Techno India Group added “On behalf of the Techno India family, I feel so proud to be a part of such an initiative. We hope and will make sure that this ‘Plogging Run’ is the first of a series of events that will contribute to curb down plastic use and raise awareness on the issue. Because at the end of the day, nobody else is going to come and clean up our backyard”.

Participants wore gloves and carried large bags with them while jogging. They picked up plastic bottles, fast food packets, tea/coffee cups, cigarette buds and any other solid garbage that they found on their route. On the finish line, one participant commented: “Plogging has made opened my eyes on how dirty our own streets can be. It was great to do something myself for the collective good!’

At the end of the race, the litter that each participant collected was weighed, which determined the winners. All runners collectively gathered more than 200kg of waste. The first runner managed to collect around 30kg on his own! The youngest runner, who was only 6 years old, has also definitely won, not only hearts, but also souls in the hope of a brighter future with more environmentally conscious generations of youth.