[ad_1]
n Indian environmentalist is helping his trainers to help clean up 30 UK cities in 30 days.
Over the past year, Vivek Gurav and his volunteers have picked up 5,000kg of litter, including 3,000kg of plastic, while running in Bristol.
He started plogging in India in 2018 – it’s jogging and picking up trash – and he didn’t want to stop when he left Pune, India, in September 2021 to take up a scholarship to Bristol University.
Since then, he has covered 420 miles on 120 plogging ‘missions’, joining volunteers from 180 countries.
The 27-year-old is taking the show on the road – where he hopes to inspire others to set up plogging groups across the country.
“I’m only plogging in Bristol, but I keep getting asked by people from Manchester, Leeds, Derby to come and plog there,” Mr Gurv said.
“So I decided to do a plogging challenge in 30 UK cities.
“Eventually, I want to set up a UK-wide plogging community like I did back in India. So, if I can go plogging across the UK, orientate people, give them blueprints, they can start their own groups.
The former app developer hopes to be joined by fellow bloggers, environmentalists and avid runners as he visits each city via public transport.
Over the next week Vivek will be plugging away at Derby, Nottingham, Leeds, Sheffield, Manchester, Liverpool, Leicester, Birmingham and Worcester.
Mr Gurav’s life has changed dramatically since he moved to the UK to study an MSc in Environmental Policy and Management at the University of Bristol.
Over the past four years, his volunteers in India have collected more than 1,000 tonnes of waste and he won an award from then Prime Minister Boris Johnson and recently spoke at the COY17 conference – the youth edition of COP27.
“COY was fantastic, a real opportunity,” he said.
“The award from the Prime Minister really motivated me to work harder.
“Now I get asked all the time by Indian people how they can come and study in the UK. They want to follow my path. It feels good to be able to help.”
Mr. Gurve graduated from his Masters in November and is now working for an environmental consultant while continuing his plogging mission.
He plans to use the skills he learned in the UK to help make India more sustainable.
[ad_2]
Source link