Fjällräven Bend Brings Plogging to Smith Rock
April 28, 2022
A Swedish jogger one day made it a mission to combine his fitness run while picking up trash, or “plogging.” The term has since expanded to hiking with picking up trash. As an outdoor clothing and equipment company “committed to making nature more accessible,” Fjällräven of Sweden, and its store in Bend and stores worldwide believe it is each of our responsibility to “Leave basecamp in better condition than we found it.” When Fjällräven wanted to bring a “plogging” crew to Smith Rock State Park as part of a larger Earth Day initiative in Central Oregon, Smith Rock rangers were happy to turn them on to the overgrown Native Plant Garden by the Welcome Center.
While plogging by definition refers to picking up trash, Nathan Dopp, CEO of the North American branch of Fjällräven puts it this way: “It combines two wonderful things that people are already doing: moving in nature and doing good.” Pulling noxious weeds to allow native plants to thrive makes the park a better place in the process. Wogging, perhaps?
Fjällräven makes it easy to plog on your next outing at Smith Rock, with free plogging bags at their Bend store.
Chuck Brown, Sales Supervisor at the Bend Fjällräven store organized the Smith Rock Plogging crew in his role as Community Lead as part of other Central Oregon Earth Day projects. Sustainability through Conservation and Community are two key pillars of each of the stores, per Store Manager Chadd McTeer, and he intends to make the efforts of his blogging teams ongoing in the community, giving time away from the store to employees to continue its conservation efforts.
Melissa Findley and Ryan Field, photographers that provide materials for Fjällräven and other outdoor retailers, asked to join in for the plogging event and a few others in the summer.
Fjallraven Bend’s Plogging crew at Smith Rock State Park show off their noxious weed haul. The Native Plant Garden is breathing easier now.