Box Layout

HTML Layout
Backgroud Images
  • greenforest
  • greenforest
  • greenforest
  • greenforest
  • greenforest
  • greenforest
  • greenforest
  • greenforest
Backgroud Pattern
  • greenforest
  • greenforest
  • greenforest
  • greenforest
  • greenforest
  • greenforest
  • greenforest
  • greenforest

The lessons of five committed athletes

A surfer who calls for waste collection on her social networks, a yogi who has created a clothing brand made with biodegradable materials, a climber who teaches newcomers to her sport an environmental chair, a runner who recycles and burns calories at the same time and a triathlete who turns his jersey pockets into a small garbage can. These five athletes are at the forefront of recycling. This is what each of them does to leave no trace.

It's hard to tell the difference between a runner and a plogger. Both wear sports clothes, running shoes and headphones to listen to music. You have to pay attention then to distinguish them in seeing who is carrying a bag. David de Castro is the main promoter in Spain of a practice that unites sport and social awareness and that, pending a better translation, they call plogging. This discipline imported from Sweden consists of combining outdoor exercise with garbage collection on beaches, mountains and cities. The term is a mix between the Swedish expression 'plocka upp' —to pick up from the ground— and the English running.

De Castro, 31, is a member of the Special Operations Command, a unit of the Army so demanding that its members are known as "guerrillas" and whose headquarters are in Alicante. There, this passionate about “eco-sports” founded PloggingRRevolution three years ago, an association to promote the philosophy of environmentally aware runners. He had heard of plogging and felt the need to promote the movement in Spain: “What started as a hobby has become my other profession. Sustainability is the future, there is no other option”, he says emphatically.

For De Castro, sport, like recycling, is a matter of culture and commitment. “Once you realize and start the path, there is no going back. The only thing I think about is all the time I've been doing nothing, ”he laments. The military maintains that it is impossible to change the world with small projects like his, but he can contribute his grain of sand and encourage people to act. “I flee from catastrophic theories and messages, I go to the practical, to pick up other people's garbage while I play sports. It's what I call doing a 2x1. This is how you take care of your body and protect your environment.”

Every time he runs along trails at a PloggingRRevolution meetup, he finds rubbish remains on his way and he reflects: “Why don't people have a heavy conscience when they leave it on the ground? We are talking about materials that take time to disappear more than 400 years. Nature is not synonymous with landfill. Since I can't change his mentality, I limit myself to picking him up and denouncing him on the networks”. In these three years, PloggingRRevolution has managed to gather more than 1,500 volunteers who have collected more than 4,500 kg of waste throughout the country. In each collection, they are divided into waste groups, so that each garbage bag goes to the appropriate container. "It doesn't cost anything to do things right," he concludes.

The first thing Alazne Aurrekoetxea does when he wakes up is check the wave forecast. If everything is favorable he will spend the day at sea again. She is sure that surfing since childhood at La Salvaje, her favorite beach, in Sopelana (Bizkaia), is what she has really made her understand and respect nature. “Being in permanent contact with the ocean, such a strong connection is inevitable, because my profession depends on it. There isn't a day that I don't imagine myself near the sea, I'm like a fish”.

Aurrekoetxea begins to see her passion rewarded. She is runner-up in Spain in paddle surfing and she has no lack of followers for her. So many that, upon leaving confinement, she thought that she could use her profile on her Instagram to raise awareness about the abandonment of garbage on the beaches. There were at least 18,000 people who would listen to it. And that worked. The surfer takes advantage of this social loudspeaker to call for waste collection on the coast and, above all, to denounce this problem. “I use my social networks to create attitude and awareness. It is not enough to collect waste and throw it in a regular bin. It's about reducing, reusing and recycling everything in the right bin,” she states.

Aurrekoetxea considers surfing to be one of the most sustainable sports with the least environmental impact. “Surfers are very aware of recycling. We always try to make the durability of our material as long as possible. If our wetsuits break, we fix them or pass them between us. The same thing happens with tables. We extend its life cycle to the maximum.” She is clear about it, nature gives her so much that she needs to compensate it with these small gestures.

Las lecciones de cinco deportistas comprometidos

Marta González-Aller has practiced all kinds of sports throughout her life. But discovering yoga a little over five years ago was her liberation. She found the formula to unite body and mind. What started as an occasional thing has become her daily routine. “The physical part connects me with myself, with my being and with my surroundings, but the cerebral part teaches me how to treat others, the world, nature. It is everything,” says González-Aller.

In the midst of a pandemic, yoga inspired him to carry out a sustainable clothing project, made with biodegradable materials. The Not Only Yoga brand, of which she co-founded, is the result of her concern about labor exploitation in the textile industry and women at risk of social exclusion. Her company is called that because they are garments that are not only used for yoga practice, but also to wear on a day-to-day basis. The objective is for the client to create a wardrobe of basics with clothes that do not go out of style.

However, Ella González-Aller affirms that her involvement in caring for the environment is something that she has always carried within her thanks to living far from big cities and for the love and respect for animals and nature that she has. the parents instilled in her. “When I am on a beach or in the mountains and I see garbage, I start collecting plastics to throw them in the yellow bin later. It comes out on its own, because my soul breaks”, confesses González-Aller.

It doesn't matter if her class is outdoors or indoors, this 37-year-old yogi returns home with any waste she generates: “As I find the space, I leave it. And if I see it dirty, I clean it. The great thing about yoga is that you don't need anything other than what you're wearing and a mat. But if I take something to eat, I put the leftovers in my pockets or in a shoulder bag and then throw them where they belong, ”she says.

In September 2020, a gesture by Diego Méntrida went around the world. He was about to cross the finish line of the Ciudad de Santander triathlon, when he stopped to let a runner enter before him who had been ahead until that moment, but who had lost his advantage due to a trip. He let her win because he felt his partner deserved to come first. And even actor Will Smith felt the need to interview this Spanish triathlete after seeing that moment.

A year has passed and Méntrida, 22, takes advantage of digital popularity to continue putting into practice his sense of what is fair. He now raises funds for his brother Carlos, who has West syndrome. Every day, he wakes up at six in the morning to attend to him and they are together until Méntrida has to go to university. In the morning, he studies Physiotherapy and Sports Sciences at the Rey Juan Carlos University, in Alcorcón (Madrid). Then the hard hours of training begin. But he confesses that they don't bother him, because he feels that something is missing if he doesn't play sports.

Méntrida likes triathlon for variety, although he doesn't always feel like swimming or running. So he opts for what he is most passionate about, “going by bike”. Méntrida spends much of his training in the middle of nature and climbs to places where few people are able to reach. “Whenever I am at the top of a mountain pass I see large amounts of plastic and cans. How can you be in such a spectacular place and leave everything a mess? It gives a lot of anger and sorrow, ”he assures. That is why both he and his training partners pick up other people's waste without thinking about it as a matter of commitment to the planet: “They are very simple gestures. Just as you brought it in your backpack, you take it with you. It doesn't cost anything."

Every time he gets on the bike, Méntrida stocks up. He usually carries nuts, bananas, energy bars and gels. "Many times I don't even stop to eat, I do it on the go, so I keep the shell in my jersey and then throw it in the organic container." With a physical exhaustion like yours in activities that require so much resistance, nutrition is essential. “Normally we do four or five hour bike rides. If you don't take anything to eat, after a while you end up without energy to continue”.

Méntrida is convinced that the day will come when what is rare, what is abnormal, will be not to recycle. Meanwhile, he launches a request to the competent authority: install containers near the routes of any training.

Climbing is in fashion. The followers of this discipline that last summer premiered at the Olympic Games do not stop increasing in Spain. Among women, for example, it is the second sport with the most federated athletes after basketball, according to data from the Higher Sports Council. Alba Álvarez is one of them, although she premiered on the rocks more than 15 years ago, when she was barely 9, at the hands of her father. Now, this environmentalist is witnessing the arrival of new fans, "mostly city people, who notice that they are not linked to the natural world, because there is much more garbage than two years ago."

Álvarez was aware that she had to assume a new role. New climbers must be taught to “respect and take care of the environment”. She does it from EscaladaSostenible, an NGO that is dedicated to raising awareness in the sector to ensure the conservation of protected areas. Her work at Desnivel, a bookstore specializing in mountaineering and located in the heart of the Las Letras neighborhood in Madrid, means that her commitment to caring for the mountains continues to grow.

She confesses that she doesn't know why she entices him to climb the rocks. “But I need it because it helps me manage any situation, including myself. Seeing the world from above frees me”, she comments with conviction. Among climbers, she says, recycling is a basic habit that no one questions. “It is taken for granted that everyone does it, because we are very connected to the Earth, it is a physical contact, it would be strange if that culture was not applied.”

But the climber himself must also act responsibly and try to reduce his environmental footprint. She is aware that the magnesium they use for the grip "causes a visual impact", so they try to scrape the wall to remove it. And, also food waste "because they are not part of nature". “That they are shells and remains of nuts does not mean that we should leave them there. A lot of climbers still do it, but that's rubbish too, so you have to put it in bags and then throw them in the brown bin." Nor do they leave a trace of the material they use to reach the top, the tape is deposited in the plastic container and if the ropes break, they are thrown away in a clean point.

Álvarez doesn't mind picking up all the debris she finds every time she climbs in a natural area. “It annoys me more to see it on the ground than to pick it up and take it to the car and then throw it in the nearest town. But it would be a good idea to put up more posters to warn of the problem and ask for civic behavior. There is a long way to go”.

The conscientious sport

The world of sports has a growing role in the battle against the uncontrolled abandonment of garbage. There are more and more citizen initiatives that fight to keep clean the environments in which running, cycling, soccer or yoga are done, that is, our parks, trails, beaches or mountains. Combining exercise and awareness is the recipe of the Km Verdes Environmental Sports Association , which is responsible for providing logistical support at sporting events such as popular races to facilitate proper waste management. Its founder is Jonathan Luis Bello, an athlete and engineer who created this eco-patrol group more than a year and a half ago in Tenerife. "I saw that all the energy we use to exercise could be combined with environmental actions," explains Bello, who also gives talks and training workshops in clubs, sports centers and schools throughout Spain. Another program aimed at educating athletes and reduction of the environmental footprint is Green Sport Flag , promoted by the Spanish Sports Association (ADESP) . “It is a global action plan that is managed from the federated sport and that is responsible for raising awareness and reversing the impact of climate change thanks to the participation of eco-volunteers,” explains Mercedes Coghen, spokesperson for the association and former Olympic champion in hockey.“ In addition, it works as a recognition system for sporting events that want to distinguish themselves by being friendly and respectful of the environment”. Added to this green action is the LIBERA Project , launched by SEO/Birdlife in collaboration with Ecoembes , whose objective is to mobilize citizens to collect waste in fields, rivers, mountains and beaches; study their impact and prevent these discharges. To date, LIBERA has characterized more than 430,000 wastes that will be included in the database of the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge of Spain (MITECO).

  • Tags:
  • who sells clothing from tribal brands

Related Articles

'The ambassador's daughter': everything about the premiere of the Nova series

A girl named Melek arrives in her living room and finds a dead man. Her mother, in the bathroom, cleans the blood from her clothes and her face, in addition, she keeps a knife along with the rest of the things in ...

Criticism rains down on Balenciaga for a diver with holes that sells for more than 1,000 euros

Exclusive ContentThe article you are trying to access is exclusively for subscribersSubscribe Find out about our plans and enjoy El País without limits.Enter If you are already a subscriber you can enter with...

 Mexico wins 6 medals in the Mathematics Olympiad When and where to watch the Mexico vs.  Gold Cup Honduras Celta will create three new schools in Mexico

This Friday we have information about the Mexican champions in Mathematics, Roberto Palazuelos' clothing brand, Celta's new soccer schools and more.Mexico wins 6 medals at the Olim...

 Bicycle Derailleur Adjustment |  Causes and solutions for a maladjusted change

Adjusting the bicycle derailleur can be something very simple if we know what we are doing, or it can become a real headache for not knowing how to find the key or, why not, because...