https://www.positive.news/environment/no-butts-no-prize/
"It’s one sport where playing dirty is positively encouraged – and sweeping to
victory means a win for the planet as well as the competitors. Born in Japan,
spogomi turns the humble act of litter-picking into a high-octane contest
with a side order of civic pride.
“It’s not just about participants enjoying themselves, it isn’t simply about
getting exercise –
spogomi has a positive social impact that benefits society
at large,” says Spogomi UK representative Chris Roaf. “Ultimately, the real
winner is the environment.”
Some 53 million tonnes of plastic waste and 4.5 trillion cigarette butts are
discarded on streets and landscapes globally each year. Japanese runner Kenichi
Mamitsuka began scooping up some of them on his morning jogs in 2008, and soon
hit on the idea of gamifying his public-spirited act to raise awareness of
littering.
He christened his new creation by splicing ‘spo’ from sport with gomi, the
Japanese word for rubbish. Fast forward 15 years and
spogomi is now played
across Japan and in dozens of countries worldwide. To date, more than 165,000
people have taken part in official contests, collecting almost 200,000 tonnes
of trash between them.
In Tokyo, the dust settled on the second Spogomi World Cup last week. Bella
Spencer and teammates Hannah Hunter and Hannah Terrell won an all-expenses-paid
trip to represent the UK after litter-picking their way to victory at a
qualifier in London over the summer.
Ultimately, the trio were denied a podium spot, losing to hosts Japan and
placing 13th out of 34. For Spencer, though, it was the taking part that really
mattered."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
