Abstract
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Background: Organised initiatives involving picking up litter during outdoor physical activity, an activity commonly described as ‘plogging’, are gaining more public attention. Globally, there are numerous government-, foundation- or community-led plogging and clean-up initiatives that engage people in litter collection to prevent plastic pollution. However, few studies have investigated these initiatives, which have the potential for environmental benefits for planetary health, alongside individual health, mental health, and social benefits.
Objectives: This scoping review aimed to investigate and map the international evidence on community-based initiatives for picking up litter during outdoor physical activities.
Methods: Using the prisma-scr guidelines, 50 plogging and clean-up initiatives were identified through peer-reviewed articles, grey literature, and social media, including online news reports. Further, plogging experts were consulted to receive additional information. Double screening of peer-reviewed articles was conducted using covidence and endnote software. Grey literature, social media and online news reports were screened manually.
Results: The findings showed that existing initiatives involve individual and group actions promoted through social media, charity organisations, and clean-up programs. While the initiatives included both plogging and clean-up programs, the primary aim of all identified initiatives was environmental protection. Most initiatives were based in the UK and USA and targeted the general population. The way litter was collected, the amount of litter collected, and how it was disposed of varied between the plogging and clean-up initiatives. The main physical activity undertaken by participants while picking up litter was walking. Other physical activities included running, kayaking, diving, cycling, hiking, and swimming. Outcome measurement mainly focused on the environmental outcomes, particularly the collection and reporting of data on litter collection. Contrastingly, health outcomes (e.g., physical activity, wellbeing) and social outcomes (e.g., social interactions, friendships) were not assessed.
Conclusions: Plogging and clean-up initiatives mainly focus on environmental protection rather than physical activity engagement. Despite many plogging and clean-up initiatives being implemented, assessments of their environmental, health, and social outcomes are sparse. Future studies should examine the multitude of environmental, health, and social benefits of these initiatives, for example, through consultations with users (i.e., ploggers) and stakeholders (i.e., organisers of plogging events).
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