READER’S DIGEST
June• 2018 | 139A Neat Way to Keep Fit
A
new, environmentally
aware fitness trend that
started in Sweden is
catching on fast.
‘Plogging’ involves collecting
litter while jogging. (The word
combines the Swedish word for
‘pick up’ with ‘jogging’.)
The idea came to exercise
fanatic Erik Ahlström (pictured),
while the Swede was living in
Åre, where he launched a local
initiative. But it was only when he
moved to Stockholm that he
realised plogging’s true potential.
“As I cycled to work, I saw
that the same trash remained
where it was for weeks,” he says.
“So I thought I could make an
efort here too.”
As Ahlström’s eforts gained
publicity, his initiative turned into
a national movement that has
now spread far and wide.Chernobyl Goes Solar
I
t was the site of the worst
nuclear accident in history,
but now Chernobyl in
Ukraine is producing energy
again – this time with no threat
to the environment.
A one-megawatt solar
energy facility has begun
operating just 100 metres
from the ruins of the damaged
reactor. Its 3800 photovoltaic
panels can generate enough
electricity to power a small town.
Back in 1986, the reactor’s
meltdown produced a
radioactive cloud that spread
over much of Europe. Around
115,000 people were evacuated
from a 2600-square-kilometre
zone around the site. But now
new life is being breathed into
the region.
“We want to optimise the
Chernobyl zone,” says Yevgen
Varyagin, head of Solar Chernobyl.
“It shouldn’t be a black hole in the
middle of Ukraine.”