I love running as a way to get exercise, relieve stress and just get outside for fresh air. I’m a total creature of habit—I run the same route almost every time in the beach town of Cardiff, CA, where I live—and lately I’ve noticed my local path is really littered with trash. In the past as I’ve run, I’ve looked down, seen trash and run right past. Of course, it made me kind of mad to see the garbage on the ground, but I kept running nonetheless.

This morning I decided to do something about it and make my run really count, not just for myself, but for my community. In addition to my normal running attire, I armed myself with a gardening glove and a large kitchen trash bag, and hit the road. I decided to follow my normal running route after realizing that with the amount of trash out there, I’d make no progress in my run if I didn’t stick to my normal path. Sure enough, keeping right on track, I actually filled up a good part of my bag pretty quickly.

I think I sparked some curiosity in some of the passersby, with my bag of garbage bumping up against the side of my leg as I ran. Outside the typical “hellos” of a morning outing, a few people actually commented! I was really excited and proud of a fellow community member who I frequently see walking his dog along my route, when he passed by and said, “Hey, I do that sometimes too.” Another guy running the other way past me said a simple, “Thank you!”

At first it definitely felt a little awkward to be stopping so frequently when I was trying to get some exercise. But with all the running, stopping and “squats,” I think I ended up with an even better workout than usual…not to mention a slightly cleaner Cardiff.

Some thoughts if you want to try this:

• Bring a smaller bag (maybe even a washable reusable bag you have) and empty it in trash cans that may be along your route to keep your load light and manageable. I really wanted to see how much trash I could collect in one run, and I wanted to separate any recyclables into my bins once I got home, but exercising with a large trash bag is awkward (and may get you a few stares ☺).
• Gloves are a must!
• Plan for your walk or run to take a little longer. Mine took almost twice as long.
• You don’t need to pick up everything. Just pick up what you can; whatever you do collect is pitching in.

Do you have a normal route that you take, where you’d like to pitch in? Let us know where you’ve cleaned up and how your experience was.