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“Picking Up Orange Peels” Part 2
One of a writer’s loftier goals is to move a reader, so it humbles me that my column two weeks past achieved this – literally.
Indeed, a number of people emailed to say they were inspired to get moving. Specifically, to go “plogging” – a term derived from the Swedish “plocka upp” – and “pick up” litter while out on a run or brisk walk.
“It was definitely exercise – bending over 34 times to retrieve the 34 items I bagged and brought home with me,” shared local resident Shay Collier. “This was a 3-mile walk through my neighborhood, which I do most days. I didn’t change from my normal speed, but had no problem spotting the trash as I quickly moved along.”
Shay even itemized her “plocka upped” garbage: “Plastic water bottle, ballpoint pen innards, half a lead pencil, rubber glove, kid’s lemonade box, empty green pet poop bag, rubber band, round metal washer, yellow packing wire, red plastic tube, 3 cigarette butts, 5 pieces of snack wrappers, 15 miscellaneous pieces of paper . . . ”
Shay’s one-day dirty laundry list brought to mind my own “plogging” experience over the course of a full year along a one-mile section of my daily running route.
Specifically, my personal “Adopt-A-Highway” was a busy two-lane road with a wide dirt berm where it borders a lemon orchard. While this stretch smells citrusy wonderful during picking season, it had also become an ugly dumpsite.
Truth be told, pushing a wheelbarrow while I ran would have been helpful for this proved to be a far greater Sisyphean challenge than I had anticipated. No sooner would I push the boulder three steps up the mountain when newly tossed litter knocked me two steps backward.
Undeterred, a handful at a time I tackled the routine litter first: fast-food bags and paper wrappers; soda cans and beer bottles; and plastic grocery bags, which came in handy for carrying extra trash.
Next, I went after other small things like DVDs and CDs; batteries and books; an alarm clock and a couple of dead cell phones; clothes and shoes; Barbie dolls with broken limbs and stuffed animals in need of sutures; wrenches and screwdrivers and saw blades; a football helmet that I wore home while running; and a wallet, with money still in it, that I was able to return to its owner.
With the bigger junk – a television, stereo system, drum set, car muffler, bike frame – I took a different approach. I carried these heavy items a mere 50 or 100 yards each day before resuming my run. Eventually, however, one by one I got them home to toss out curbside or take to the e-waste recycling center.
Some stuff was simply too big and heavy to lug home, even incrementally. A loveseat, for example, I struggled to move ten yards up the embankment to roadside. A few days later, however, I was able to flag down a trash truck. After explaining my project to the driver, he helpfully hauled the small couch away.
Too, there were a couple of road-kill coyotes and one full-grown pig that must have caused major fender damage while meeting its demise. For these, I phoned Animal Control.
All told I “plocka upped” everything from A to Z, including the kitchen sink. I am exaggerating, but barely, for I did clear away a bathroom sink!
Returning full circle to Shay Collier. On account of my mentioning that John Wooden had a different term for “plogging,” calling it “picking up orange peels,” she concluded her litter list serendipitously: “. . . and yes, an orange peel!”
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Woody Woodburn writes a weekly column for The Ventura County Star and can be contacted at WoodyWriter@gmail.com.
Check out my memoir WOODEN & ME: Life Lessons from My Two-Decade Friendship with the Legendary Coach and Humanitarian to Help “Make Each Day Your Masterpiece” and my essay collection “Strawberries in Wintertime: Essays on Life, Love, and Laughter” …
- Personalized signed copies are available at WoodyWoodburn.com
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