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THE CITY
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BRISTOL Meet Vivek Gurav, founder of the environmental group, Bristol Ploggers
What’s your connection to Bristol? I am in love with this city. I come from Pune, India and am currently pursuing my MSc in Environmental Policy and Management at University of Bristol. For me, Bristol gives me those Pune vibes – I have been feeling at home in the city since day one. For anyone that doesn’t know, can you briefly explain what plogging is? Plogging is a simple act where you pick up litter while jogging. It aims at making an individual multitask while jogging and focuses on both personal fitness as well as environmental fitness.
BBC searches for local heroes
How did you get into plogging? I first started plogging in Pune. Rivers in Pune are very polluted. After speaking to my friends and youth in the city, I personally felt that government action wasn’t going to solve the problem. After a successful 30-day plogging challenge, I found a lot of friends liked the idea and later joined me in the daily activity. Now, it has transformed into a nationwide community-led initiative for sustainability. Pune Ploggers is the world's largest community plogging campaign and has attracted more than 10,000 members.
Every day heroes who make a difference where they live will be recognised in a new community award scheme run by every local BBC radio station in England and they need your help finding people who should be honoured. It will be part of the BBC's Make A Difference awards to recognise remarkable people; marking their achievements and contributions to lives in their communities. Make A Difference was first set up at the start of the first pandemic lockdown and is a virtual notice board for those offering help and those needing support. To date over 8 Million people have interacted across all 39 local BBC radio stations. Categories cover the unsung heroes of every community from great neighbours, inspirational teachers, awesome volunteers or even outstanding key workers. There are eight award categories, nominations are now open and will close on the 29 April 2022 at 11pm. The winners will be announced at the Make a Difference awards hosted by your local BBC radio station at a ceremony in September. Chris Burns, Head of Audio and Digital for BBC England said: “The last two years have been challenging for everyone. Listeners have contacted us to share the stories of how people have helped each other and we wanted to find a way of celebrating those unsung heroes and telling those amazing stories.”
How many plogging missions have you been on in Bristol and how much rubbish have you picked up in the city so far? Since February 2022, I have completed 45 plogging runs in Bristol. A team of 15 of us have picked up more than 500kgs of rubbish. Tell us about your new group, Bristol Ploggers... Bristol Ploggers will be open to collaborations from all kinds of communities aiming at exploring the city, promoting the idea of individual activism to fight climate change. Through plogging, we will talk about the real facts influencing and driving climate change. Readers can find all relevant details of Bristol Ploggers on my Instagram. What are you reading at the moment? At the moment, I am currently reading Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones by James Clear. It has been a life-changing book for me. Plogging in Bristol was one of the
• bbc.co.uk/makeadifference
10 THE BRISTOL MAGAZINE
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APRIL 2022
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No 209
things that I started doing after reading this book. If you could have dinner with anyone from any era, who would it be and why? Send me to a dinner with heads of all the governments across all countries – I want to know who is at the decision making end and what is it that’s preventing them from switching to greener ways of living. What is your philosophy in life? My philosophy in life is: be in the moment. Let’s be aware of how much of an importance we all carry in someone’s life. • Follow Vivek on Instagram at: @theplogman
