Get Fit While Saving the World!

When you walk for exercise, take a bag with you and fill it with trash. Simple.

Last year, I got sick and was unable to keep up my usual running regimen. Instead, I took a long walk. Leaving our village, I found the roads leading elsewhere to be littered with trash. The next day, I found a cheap plastic shopping bag from a local drug store on the side of the road. As I walked, I picked up trash--mainly beer cans and plastic sport drink bottles--which I dumped when I got to a local cemetery that had a trash can. Now, I bring my own bag.

This is not rocket science, but it took years of running and walking past trash before I put the idea together. Since I've been doing it, I've learned a few lessons that make it more of a workout, more fun and less of a hassle.

Inspiration:

You may have read how Dutch artist Tommy Kleyn cleaned up a riverbank by picking up a single bag of trash each day on his way to work. You can read his story here. My own inspiration is older, stemming from a column I had read thirty years ago. In it, the columnist was eating crow over an earlier column that had mocked a neighbor who picked up trash in the neighborhood. After wondering why anyone would make it their duty to clean up trash in front of other people's homes, the neighbor's wife gave him his backstory: Having been diagnosed with heart disease and told to exercise, the man had decided to combine his walk with cleaning up the neighborhood. Picking up trash forced him to stretch and bend, beyond the benefit of helping his community. With this information, the columnist warned readers about judging people's actions and motives. I left thinking more about how small acts can make a difference.

In Vermont, we have "Green Up Day". After the snow melts, six months of trash are revealed on the side of the road. On the first Saturday of May, Green Up Day is when legions of volunteers own a piece of roadway and clean it up. It's history and other details can be found here. The week after, the roads throughout Vermont are dotted by special green bags filled with winter trash. But weeks after the roadways are cleared the trash returns. It is dispiriting.

Last year, our family missed Green Up Day. Traditionally, my wife and I would take our two boys to a stretch of ignored roadway and would collect a bag of trash and a bag of recycling. That year, we skipped it. After the weekend, I felt guilty as I believe that type of slide is how society slips downward. For weeks I felt that, until I thought of that old column and then got sick.

You don't need anything, really. Starting out, I would sometimes crush cans and stick them in my pockets, but these items can make the process by efficient and pleasant.

Reflective Clothing: Safety is a primary concern. You are on the side of the road and no driver expects people to be picking up trash. Be visible. I have a reflective running shell, and a reflective vest for when I wear a t-shirt or heavy winter coat. Don't be shy about buying an orange hat, gloves, pants.... Those DPW guys you see (or "volunteers" doing community service time) are heavily decked out for a reason. If you exercise before dawn, you have a special need for reflective clothing. Remember, you are darting in and out of the shoulder of the road and drivers cannot be relied on.

Reflective clothing addresses other dangers, too. In my rural neck of the woods, the roads take me to where hunting is happening--even though I am near the road and technically safe, I want those in the woods to see I'm not a deer. In other environments, any official looking reflective gear lets property owners know you aren't a burglar or oddball wanting harassment. People tend to leave official looking people alone.

Gloves: I wear work gloves. You can choose not to deal with broken bottles and sharp metals, but I find myself reaching into nettle bushes and touching gross stuff. Gloves also keep your hands warm, and work gloves won't shred like my nylon winter gloves. When I went to the hardware store for a new pair, I found a pair of work gloves backed with reflective tape--they happened to be the cheapest pair, but now I can't image buying any other kind.

Bag: You want to put your trash somewhere. Like those who find the exercising religion and overdue it on the first day, only to never to do it again, you want a bag you can easily fill while you create a habit. If your broom closet is full of those cheap grocery shopping bags, your choice is clear--they are a modest size and this project gives them a second use. They also have handles and fold up nicely into your pocket before use. Know that they can tear easily from sharp edges. As I heat my home with wood pellets, I use the empty bags as they are tough and hold a bit more.

Stick: One of the benefits of this activity is that it forces you bend over and stretch. That said, you might have other ideas or physical restrictions. Dutch artist Tommy Kleyn used a grabber stick when he cleaned up his local riverbank, but a pole with a tip is good, too. You can find dozens of ergonomic products online or at Home Depot, as companies are trying to save maintenance workers from repetitive motion injuries.

You can easily re-purpose a ski pole to jab cans, plastic bottles and other items. Or, take an old wooden broomstick and tap a long 12d finishing nail into the end. The minimal head is large enough to grip after puncturing the trash, while allowing for an easy release in the bag. With either the ski pole or broom stick, you'll have to brush the trash off the end into the bag, either with your hand or with the bag itself.

Broom: If you work sidewalks and want to clean up your block, think of a small broom and dustpan for sweeping up broken glass. When you imagine the area and what you want to achieve, the tools will be obvious. Set yourself up for success by getting the right ones.

Exercise Clothing: This depends on many factors, from your running to walking and what you like to work. Think, though, about your footwear and the shoulder of the road. Mine is rural and can require shoes that grip because the shoulders rise or fall away. Also, rain turns rural roads to mud. If you are in a city, broken glass on pavement might make a meal of minimalist shoes. If you are seeing a lot of broken glass, thick soles are necessary. Also, think about your clothing in terms of material and looseness. The bushes along our road has burdocks and cleaning them off is a pain; nylon seems resistant to their prongs. You might find loose clothing getting caught on fences or prickers. Just think it through and adjust. And, remember, you are exercising so you are dressing for that, too.

Taking responsibility for the world can be overwhelming and demoralizing. Setting rules for yourself can make it sane. Having structure allows you to focus. Here are some that I play with--you should make your own:

Distance From Road: My rule of thumb is that I won't go further than one meter from the edge of road for trash. I break it all of the time, but before I go deep into the brambles to get that Bud Light I remind myself of what I'm doing and leave it. A bit ways down the road there's another Bud Light can to fill my bag. By setting a limit, I keep the exercise goal in mind and move forward. Another day, I might be more in the mood to get that can.

Walk, Pick Up: I am back to running, but my illness break showed me that I enjoy longer outings for reasons beyond exercising. So, I run until I feel like walking. My "penalty" for walking is to pull out my bag and pick up trash. This no longer feels like a penalty, but it allows me to run past trash knowing that at some point I'll pick it up elsewhere on the route. Remember, I'm doing this for fitness, too. And I'm not picking up all the trash in the world--just a bag's worth at a time.

Choose Materials to Pick Up: I'm a completist, and I would go nuts picking up cigarette butts if I did not focus on particular types of trash; heck, I'd never get more than a few meters and my bag would remain mostly empty after an hour of doing it. I don't pick up cigarette butts. I also don't pick up biodegradable items, like paper. This extends to cigarette packaging, fast food boxes and the boxes cases of beer come in, even though I know these items have a long shelf life. Instead, I pick up cans, bottles and styrofoam. Some days I will only focus on depositable cans and bottles, hoping someone will pick up my full bag when I leave it by an intersection (they do). Other days, only plastic bottles.

Typically, I won't pick up anything smaller than a silver dollar. If I worked a route that was all sidewalks, I might reconsider. I might also include a broom in my toolkit.

No Front Yards: I refuse to pick up trash in front of someone's home--the owners can do that. If someone can be bothered to mow the grass up to or near the street, they can pick up a few cans. But I'm rural, and have miles of rough land littered with Bud Lite cans. In a more urban environment, the lack of care on the part of owners might be the problem--and now YOU are the solution.

Remind Yourself: Each day you are doing a small part. Doing something is more important than doing nothing.

Where to Leave the Bag: My walks are long, and the bag can get heavy. As I'm doing my part for the community, I leave it to others to do theirs. I have no problem dumping my small bag of trash into a dumpster if they are on my route. The local cemetery on one route has a trash can, as does our downtown. Leaning a pellet bag of trash next to a rural mailbox or stop sign is a bit more self conscious, but I do it. Other times, I'll leave it conspicuously on the side of the road; someone always takes it.

If you are a person who needs permission, ask those who own dumpsters if they can spot you the space to help their community. Or, you can swing by later in your car for a bag pick-up. Again, wearing reflective garb gives you a weird authority and people want to help--you aren't some scumbag littering or avoiding trash fees.

Get a Sponsor: Local businesses have a vested interest in a clean neighborhood. The local fast food joint will probably spot you garbage bags if you lay out your project. They will probably also let you use their dumpster. Be sure to clearly lay out the details--how often you plan to do this, where, and the goals. A few garbage bags and a weekly bag in the dumpster is very different than fifty volunteers filling a dumpster on a busy Saturday. Details give the impression of being legit.

If you do get a sponsor, a kindness would be a letter detailing the support. Send one to the manager, and one (or a copy) to corporate and the local news outlet. Everyone likes to be recognized.

Wear a Vest or Reflective Gear: Again, reflective gear gives off the idea of authority. Because of your clothes, you clearly aren't police, so no one minds you picking through the streets and yards. At the same time, with a vest people know you aren't a vagrant. At worst, you are left alone to do you work. At best, someone offers you coffee or helps out.

Bend: Instead of using a grabber, bend over and pick the trash up. If trash pieces are near each other, rise and bend back over for each piece. Make it your rule. Here is a video explaining proper bending/picking-up, but some yoga work would be good, too. In fact, using different yoga stretches works different joints. By the end of the walk, your body should be that much more flexible.

Run/Walk: You can go further on your run if you do bits of walks in the middle of your route. The important part is to schedule where you will walk and stick to that. So, you might run three miles and walk on a stretch of road you know needing cleaning. Then, bag full, complete your run. Jeff Galloway has pioneered the benefits of putting a walk in the midst of your routine (he does not quite suggest this long of a walk break, but the idea of breaking a run is sacrilege to some.

Parkour! My route has shoulders that rise and fall. Running, I can jump and dive and roll and bounce between the side of the road and the trash. Make it fun.