Cebuano bikes around province to pick up trash

• Source: https://www.sunstar.com.ph/article/1750688/Cebu/Local-News/Cebuano-bikes-around-province-to-pick-up-trash
• Monday, July 2, 2018

By Paula Joy Mendoza (CNU intern)

WHILE “plogging,” or “picking trash while jogging,” may be a fitness trend in 2018 in some countries, a Cebuano picks up trash while biking all around the province of Cebu.

Anthony “Tony” Galon has been a runner for years as part of the Ultra Runners Club and is an active member of the Cebu City and the Cebu Province Environment and Natural Resources Office.

He is also an advocate of the “Basura Run” and the “Run To Donate Blood” projects of Cebu Province to promote healthy living and a clean environment.

However, for him, these events happen only for a specific time and people cannot seem to bring the event’s essence into their daily lives.

He noticed, for instance, all the plastic wastes left on the streets of Cebu.

Sikad Pukaw

So, as he was dealing with the discipline of his new hobby, biking, he developed a trash-picking habit.

Tony called the movement as “SiPuk’’ which means “Sikad Pukaw”. It is a daily habit of picking trash while running or biking in Cebu Province, to raise awareness and to awaken the Cebuanos about the rising level of plastic waste and its ill effects. He picks up five pieces of garbage during each run.

Last June 20, Tony went on his longest bike and trash picking adventure. He started in the Cebu Provincial Capitol going to the southern part of Cebu then taking on the northern parts of the province after that.

Last June 23, he ended his route by biking back to the Capitol. Overall,he covered 46 towns or roughly 584 kilometers and picked up 230 pieces of garbage along the way.