Join Stamford-based Keep America Beautiful®, The Maritime Aquarium at Norwalk and Keep Norwalk Beautiful on Sun., Sept. 15 for Connecticut’s inaugural 5k plogging event, the Keep America Beautiful Trash Dash™.
The three organizations are partnering in advance of World Cleanup Day and the International Coastal Cleanup (both on Sept. 21) to prevent litter from entering Long Island Sound by conducting Connecticut’s first major “plog” through the streets of Norwalk.
Plogging, a combination of jogging and picking up litter, started as an organized activity in Sweden around 2016 because of growing concerns about litter and marine debris and has since spread to other countries. Keep America Beautiful – the nation’s leading community improvement nonprofit organization – and its more than 600 community-based affiliates are leading this trend in the United States by conducting plogs to make their communities cleaner, safer, healthier and more beautiful.
“Every piece of litter that participants pick up during the Trash Dash reduces the amount of litter that potentially could enter Long Island Sound and helps us transform Norwalk’s public spaces into beautiful places,” said Keep America Beautiful President & CEO Helen Lowman.
Plog check-in on Sept. 15 will be from 7 to 8 a.m. in Newman’s Own Hall of The Maritime Aquarium, 10 N. Water St. The Trash Dash begins at 8 a.m.
Each plogger will receive a plastic garbage bag, gloves and a litter picker to pick up the trash, as well as an official race t-shirt and numbered bib. At a stop along the route, ploggers can empty their filled garbage bags. At the end of the 5K, each plogger’s trash and recyclables will be weighed, separated and sorted for proper processing.
Unlike most 5ks, where awards are given for the best times, the Trash Dash offers different kinds of awards, such as most trash collected, top fundraiser and more.
“This fun plogging event benefits both the health of the Sound and the health of the ploggers,” said Aquarium spokesman Dave Sigworth. “Whether you walk or run the 5K, whether you fill one trash bag or 10, you and the environment both come out winners.”
Ploggers are invited to register now as individuals or to form Trash Dash teams to help raise funds
for Keep America Beautiful. Individual adult registration is $30. Kids age 14 and under can participate for free but are still encouraged to pre-register.
Following the Trash Dash, participants will receive discounted admission on Sept. 15 into The Maritime Aquarium.
Register and learn more at www.kab.org.
The Keep America Beautiful Trash Dash is sponsored by Dart Container Corporation and Sazerac Company.
About The Maritime Aquarium
The Maritime Aquarium is a not-for-profit organization whose mission is to educate visitors about – and to create stewards for – Long Island Sound. It accomplishes this by allowing visitors to get close to more than 250 species native to the Sound and its watershed, including sharks, seals, sea turtles, river otters, jellyfish and other animals. One of the top places for family fun in Connecticut, the Aquarium also features hands-on educational programs and displays, public study cruises out onto the Sound, and Connecticut's largest IMAX movie theater, with a screen that's six stories high. TripAdvisor.com reviewers rate The Maritime Aquarium as one of the Top 20 aquariums in the U.S. and No. 1 in New England. Learn more at www.maritimeaquarium.org.
About Keep America Beautiful
Keep America Beautiful, the nation’s leading community improvement nonprofit organization, inspires and educates people to take action every day to improve and beautify their community environment. Established in 1953, Keep America Beautiful strives to End Littering, Improve Recycling and Beautify America’s Communities. We believe everyone has a right to live in a clean, green and beautiful community, and shares a responsibility to contribute to that vision.
Behavior change – steeped in education, research and behavioral science – is the cornerstone of Keep America Beautiful. We empower generations of community and environmental stewards with volunteer programs, hands-on experiences, educational curricula, practical advice and other resources. The organization is driven by the work and passion of more than 600 Keep America Beautiful affiliates, millions of volunteers, and the collaborative support of corporate partners, social and civic service organizations, academia, municipalities, elected officials, and individuals. Donate and take action at kab.org.
Keep Norwalk Beautiful
Keep Norwalk Beautiful is a non-profit affiliate of Keep America Beautiful dedicated to beautifying the great city of Norwalk by reducing litter, waste, and blight. The organization is run by a 13-member board comprised of local citizens, business owners and government officials. But importantly, KNB relies on hundreds of generous volunteers in the community to help execute our clean-up and litter education efforts.