Pual Waye

Hi, my name is Paul Waye.

I am a 55 year old ex-Brit living in the Netherlands (now officially Dutch), and I am perhaps.. maybe..hopefully.. the “hardest working plogger in the World”!

A grand claim for sure! haha. But let’s see if I can back it up. Oh gosh, I have a lot to live up to now!

WHEN I STARTED
My first official plog was in 2011. I was on my run commute to work when I noticed all this trash in the hedges. So I bent down, picked some up and made a tweet about it.
Although it wasn’t the first time I did something like that, it was the first time I did it and made a social media comment on it, so I take that as my first time
(yep, it was 5 years before the Swedes came up with the word plogging, so I just said ‘look what I picked up while running’).

EVERY TIME I PLAY SPORT, I PICK UP TRASH!
Like others, I used to do it every now and then (a few times a week), but in 2019 I made a deeper commitment and pledge to pick up trash EVERY time I do a run, bike, swim, SUP. It only has to be one piece but is usually a lot more
(just during sport I collect well over 220lbs/100kg of trash each and every month)
Yep.. I run a lot – 4000km a year (around 11km/7miles each day on average)

EVERY TIME? REALLY?
Yep.. even….
Marathon races – I pick up a piece of trash on the way to the starting line, carry it around the whole way and then put it in the bin.
To the litterbug I say; “you couldn’t take it 10m to the bin? Well I just carried it 42,195m AND THEN put it in the bin”

Sharona Shnayder

Sharona Shnayder is a 22 year old Nigerian-Israeli environmental activist mobilizing for climate justice in the Middle-East. She is also the Founder of the global grassroots movement Tuesdays for Trash inspiring individuals around the world to dedicate Tuesdays–or every day– to trash picking, conversing about the waste management issue, demanding better practices from big businesses, and becoming responsible citizens working towards a healthier home for all. Additionally, she serves as the Chairwoman of the social justice non-profit OurstreetsPDX and is a part of the Global Choices’ Arctic Angel community. Her main passion is to reduce global waste and create a more sustainable, clean, and equitable home for everyone on this planet.

Elizabeth Sherr

Elizabeth (Liz), known as her handle @lizlivingblue, is an ocean and sustainability scientist and activist that uses social media storytelling to inspire local action in marine protection, primarily through beach cleanups. Even though Liz has studied the ocean and done cleanups since she was young, her activism took off on World Oceans Day 2021 when she created a #TrashChallenge campaign with the European Parliament that encouraged global viewers to pick up trash in their communities. Liz has since created other “Trash Challenges” that provide both a real and positive take on our planet’s plastic pollution following the theme “every piece counts.” Liz also shares content on marine science education because she believes, “the more we learn about our oceans, the more we can care about them.”