Plogging drive helps clear 200kg plastic waste in Madurai

MADURAI: A plogging run (picking up litter while jogging) was organized as part of the ‘Clean Madurai’ campaign by Thiagarajar School of Management in Thirupparankundram on Sunday.
The run which kicked off at 6 am saw a participation of around 1,500 people from across Madurai. Chief guest of the event, environmentalist Manickam Athappa Gounder better known as Manuneethi Manickam, flagged off the run.Manickam is actively involved in implementing various innovations for a sustainable green environment. In 2019, he brought in Municipal Solid Waste management using Zero Waste Disposal Technology, which is being actively implemented in Chennai by the Greater Chennai Corporation.
The ploggers ran across three routes namely from Thiagarajar School of Management to Thiruparankundram Girivalam route and back for 6 km, from the college towards Avaniapuram and back for 6 km, and from the college to Pamban Nagar and back for 3 km. The theme of the run was ‘Avoid single use plastic’.
In total, the participants had collected 200 kg of plastic waste, covering 15 Kms. The event provided a platform to encourage collective participation of plastic waste removal from roadsides. Further, the collected plastic waste is to be recycled and reused as paver blocks.