Taking out the trash for World Clean-Up Day

On World Clean-Up Day on 16th September 2023, we decided to make movement matter and clear up the paths and parks of London.

Our Moving Meet, titled City Trash Trails, was in partnership with London-based running community Camino Ultra and the brilliant Trash Free Trails. The event was part of our Movement for Good strategy to play our part tackling the challenges facing our communities.

Bringing together people, professionals and brands passionate about sports, outdoors and wellbeing, we plogged (jogged and litter picked) around South London and surveyed the state of the capital’s paths.

Our goal was to raise awareness of World Clean-Up Day, the amazing work of Trash Free Trails and highlight the problem of litter in London’s green spaces.

Sadly, rubbish in London’s open spaces is a real issue. According to a survey from Parks for London, litter collection and disposal from London’s parks and green spaces costs the capital’s local authorities an estimated £16 million a year.

The City Trash Trails Moving Meet was a collaborative effort to drive positive change and encourage a shift in attitude towards picking up other people’s litter.

It was incredible to see so many fantastic people, who not only care about looking after the areas they run in, but who were prepared to take action and pick up trash with us on a weekend.

The weather was hot, which made the 9-mile run around the glorious ponds, hills and trails of South London a real challenge. But the results were 100% worth it. We picked up 800 pieces of trash and logged the details for the State of Our Trails Report – a Trash Free Trails project that aims to collect data to:

It was so fulfilling to see the impact we can have to clean up the city, and what happens when we bring the community together and combine it with the power of movement. It gives us all hope for a better future for our planet.