'Ploggers' keeping China's great outdoors clean, pristine

Mass movement

For many early participants, environmental activism was not the starting point.

Zheng Jiajia, one of the organizers of the Beijing event and a key promoter of the X-Plogging initiative, first began collecting litter while trail running.

During long-distance runs in the mountains, she repeatedly encountered piles of discarded bottles, food packaging and camping waste in otherwise pristine landscapes.

She recalled witnessing what psychologists call the "broken windows effect" — the theory that visible signs of disorder encourage more acts of disorder.

"One person leaves a bottle behind, then others feel it's acceptable to do the same," she said. "A second bottle appears, then a third. Eventually people start treating the place like a garbage dump."

"You've walked so far and seen such beautiful scenery. Then you reach a viewpoint and find yourself surrounded by trash. It's heartbreaking."

At the time, litter collection was largely carried out by experienced hikers, trail runners and outdoor enthusiasts who spent significant time in the mountains.

Chen Ya, leader of Beijing-based volunteer group "Mountain Guardians", had a similar experience.

She began hiking in 2019 and participated in events across China, becoming increasingly concerned about the environmental impact of growing outdoor recreation.

Many of her group's earliest cleanup activities focused on Beijing's famous Three Peaks route, a challenging 22-km trail linking several mountain summits, and with a cumulative elevation gain of around 1,600 meters.

The route was demanding for experienced runners. Carrying bags full of collected trash made it even harder, she said.

"In the beginning, most participants were strong hikers and trail runners," Chen said. "Cleaning up the route was often more difficult than simply running it."

The results were striking. In April 2024, volunteers collected more than 108 kilograms of trash along the route. In March 2025, another cleanup removed over 200 kg of waste. The cleanup also continued in September 2025 and April 2026.

Yet, in recent years, the volunteers have noticed something has changed. "The amount of garbage on the same route has clearly decreased," Chen said. "Whether or not the number of people littering has changed, at least there are more people willing to pick it up."

The profile of those participating in the cleanup has also expanded.

"The threshold has become much lower," she said. "We used to mainly attract experienced outdoor enthusiasts. Now we reserve places for children, and those spots are often filled within minutes."

The same trend is visible nationwide. According to Liu Xiaoyu, head of Xterra China, which launched X-Plogging in many cities, participation in environmental outdoor activities has undergone explosive growth in recent years.

"What we are seeing is a transition from a niche community to the mainstream," she said.

Initially, participants were largely environmental advocates and experienced outdoor athletes. Today, urban professionals aged 25 to 35 and family groups have become the dominant force. During a large-scale X-Plogging event held in Suzhou, Jiangsu province, in March, 140 families numbering 345 participants accounted for 65 percent of total registrations, according to Xterra.