Bristol Uni grad gets the country 'plogging' - by travelling to 30 cities in 30 days
Vivek Gurav - a University of Bristol grad - launched the challenge in December, and has helped to collect hundreds of kilos of rubbish
A Bristol-based environmentalist - along with dozens of local volunteers - has completed his 30-day, 30-city 'plogging' tour of the country.
He battled the elements, train strikes, and time very much not being on his side - but the final count is in - and he managed to help clean-up 360 kilos of rubbish in just 30 days.
Vivek Gurav wanted to spread awareness of plogging – the form of littler picking and jogging – and help others start their own plogging groups.
The 27-year-old began plogging in his home city of Pune, western India, where he and his many volunteers have picked up 1,000 tonnes (1million kg) of litter over the past five years.
He brought his enthusiasm for plogging to the UK in 2021, when he left India for the first time to take up a scholarship at the University of Bristol. His plogging group has since become a common sight in the city.
In December, he decided to take the show on the road, visiting 30 UK cities in 30 days. Along the way, more than 250 local volunteers joined him, helping to collect 360kg of litter. Recycling the rubbish will save around 500kg of CO2 emissions.
His 1,500 mile tour of the UK, using public transport, included visits to Wolverhampton, Manchester, Stoke, Leeds, Liverpool, Lincoln and London.
“It was a great experience and it was really nice to have so many people come out and support,” Vivek said.
“It feels fantastic to have seen almost all the major cities in the UK in the shortest span while also doing something I love.
“I see many projects coming this year through the communities I was able to reach out to in this journey.
“I have already started seeing local litter picking groups boosted with volunteer engagement seeing the wide coverage of my tour. It’s really amazing.”
It wasn't just a journey of discovery and inspiration - it was also one of many setbacks - one of those being December's train strikes. Over the course of his 30-day challenge, nearly a third of those days were marred with some kind of travel disruption.
Vivek added: "There were a few times where I found myself stuck - like when I got stuck in Lincoln. There was no way to go out anywhere. I was supposed to go from them to Boston, Peterborough and then down to Cambridge and London, but I had to change my route, come back from Lincoln to Leicester, Leicester to Birmingham, and Birmingham to London.
"I had to traverse the whole country because there were no trains available. At times, I was so scared because I was in a city I didn't know, with no way of getting out on public transport. Close to the end, I was running behind schedule - which I had to catch up with It became quite hectic in the last few days!"
Despite all his good work, like with any difficult challenge, there were times Vivek thought of giving up.
He said: "There was one time where all the trains were cancelled, and I was checking other tickets - and it was just getting really expensive. It was a frustrating time, and I wasn't prepared to pay £100 for a single journey that I really didn't have to do.
"I'd say I felt it the most on about the 18th of December. I called my friends, and told them, 'I'm not going to make it'."
"But then it hit me - there was one point I realised, and asked myself, 'Why did you pick up this challenge?' At the end of the day, I did this to prove something and to push myself out of my comfort zone. So, I changed my route, changed my journey plan, and I got to work.
"Life throws challenges to us all - and there were points throughout the challenge where I really felt at one with this project. It made me realise that it's how we deal with the challenges presented to us that proves to us how strong we are."
Vivek graduated from his MSc in Environmental Policy and Management at the University of Bristol in November.
Vivek said he “absolutely loved” the course, especially “being taught by world-leading scientists and environmental academics”.
During his time in the UK he was given a Points of Light Award by then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson, visited No 10 on the invitation of current PM Rishi Sunak and spoke at COY17, the youth version of COP.
He is now working for a UK environmental consultancy while continuing his plogging runs. He plans to use the skills he has learnt in the UK to help make India more sustainable.
Read more here: Former Bristol Uni student's mission to get the UK 'plogging'
The 500kg saving was calculated as Vivek logged the materials used in each piece of litter collected, and using data from Scrapp, he was able to approximate CO2 savings based on the emissions of manufacturing and extracting these materials.