A practiced gaze that scans the streets in radar mode and searches “the interstices in the brick walls” pink, gardener’s gloves and shoulders generally “more sore” than an ordinary jogger from trotting with loaded arms. When he runs Philippe Ventura not only cleanses his body, he also cleans the landscape. The 50-year-old from Toulouse has been a fan of plogging for six years, an “eco-citizen” sports practice from Sweden which consists of jogging while picking up waste.
According to this member of the Run Eco Team association, a pioneer of the phenomenon in France, nearly a thousand practitioners attend the Facebook page of the Toulouse group. They take part, sometimes assiduously, sometimes as a hobbyist, in “cans raids” or other “Clean-up Days” and know by heart the filthy “spots” on the banks of the Garonne, festive squares, or city entrances, the famous border where many believe they can more discreetly throw their empty packet of cigarettes out of their car window.
Four axes to clean
“There is no typical profile, we find all ages” among practitioners, assures Philippe Ventura. He has an artistic streak. He sometimes transforms his sorted waste into sculptures or a world map. The plogger, who finds it difficult to walk normally in the street without stopping on the rubbish that litters it, likes the complicity, even “the moments of grace”, which binds the collectors around their heap once their mission has been accomplished.
Do you want to taste this little pleasure? The opportunity is looming this Saturday morning*. In partnership with a mutual fund, Run Eco Team organizes a street cleaning operation open to all. “Even to those who don’t want to run,” says Philippe Ventura, who is also not closed to acrobatic waste collection like a gymnast. Four courses, supervised, are planned in the city center and gloves are provided.
* Meet at 9:45 a.m. at 9, rue de Metz, in front of the Harmonie Mutuelle branch. Free.