Polygiene : Swedish Brands Push Global Awareness on Sustainability and Litter Issues

Polygiene® Stays Fresh Technology this summer supported the Swedish sensation Plogga (translation: plocka 'pick' / jogga 'run') on a road trip through Sweden from the nation's capital, Stockholm to above the Arctic Circle to Riksgransen near the Norwegian border.

Plogga founder Erik Ahlström and his army of Ploggers met up during various events and festivals this summer and helped clean trails, roadways, parking lots and coast lines, among other areas from litter and plastics from getting into our waterways and help make our environment cleaner and more beautiful. The big takeaway is that trash is everywhere and even small steps on our own can make a real impact.

Erik provided us a recap of his cross-country tour.

Short description and some facts
We started in Stockholm and drove down to Gothenburg where we Plogged on four occasions at the Cultural Festival. We made a visit and Plogged and lectured on Käringön during the Västerhav week with the CEO of Håll Sverige rent, Keep Sweden clean.

The longest journey was up to the High Coast and Örnsköldsvik where we greeted and Plogged with one of the world's most famous dogs Arthur who soon becomes a Hollywood star.If you haven't heard his STORY, it's really amazing!

In Abisko, we stayed for three days and Plogged when 2000 participants from 46 nations finished the Fjällräven classic. (Imagine the road which passes through Sweden's first national park is so full of litter that we did not manage to Plogga all the way)

In Riksgränsen (the border to Norway) we joined BAMM (Björkliden Arctic Mountain Marathon) and then made a detour to Trollsjön and Låktatjåkko mountain station, always Plogging.

From there we continued south and stopped at Kiruna and Plogged purely around the tourist office before driving past the Arctic Circle and down to Järvsö and joined the Red Bull World Cup in the pump track, where we presented our range and Plogged.

The end was in Stockholm with lecture and visit by the foreign press.

During these 355 miles we have stayed at numerous rest areas, roads and parking pockets and Plogged clean. We have often used our Sun Living's large stockpile as a 'garbage container' until we found a suitable recycling center.

Facts
Number of miles: 3550 km (we chose the most environmental diesel fuel)
Best place (cleanest): Ångersjöns resting place
Worst place (most trash): Gävlebro
Most beautiful; Trollsjön, but there we found 103 debris of which 90% were 'kissing paper'
Media: We have been interviewed by local and national radio and participated in SVT norrbotten
Social media: We have used Facebook and Instagram and posted both live and under stories. You can see under Plogga's Instagram during the highlight where we have an icon called Plogga on Tour.

Conclusion
It got a lot better than you may have expected, but unfortunately, the conclusion is very negative. It looks like a war zone out there, many of our resting places and parking 'pockets' are pure rubbish dumps. Throwing away garbage on the go or emptying the car of various garbage seems to be more than a rule except for some car-borne people. Unfortunately, there seem to be few municipalities that have the routines and power to pick up all the crap that lies and debris and to inform about the damage the debris does to nature and wildlife.

Very many people have seen the camper and our message, Plogga on Tour, gave us the thumbs up, honked when they drove around, send mail and comments and ask when we will come and visit them.

Thanks again and keep on Plogging

Unfortunately, we Ploggers will never be unemployed …