Eco-jogging: How Benin's youth are sprucing up public spaces

By Firmain Eric Mbadinga

You wouldn't expect someone to pack bin bags, gloves, a shovel and a broom in a kit bag for a morning jog.

But then, Abdou Latif Adéyemi Oloude isn't your everyday jogger clocking miles, counting calories, and sharing running trails on Strava.

This young Beninese activist is a foot soldier for the environment, literally, as he goes about picking trash and plastic waste as part of his regular jogging routine.

Oloude is one of many. Members of Jeunes Volontaires pour l'Environnement (JVE-Bénin) have turned "eco-jogging" into a movement to clean up the towns and cities of this West African nation.

Eco-jogging, as the term suggests, is an initiative that combines fitness with environmental accountability.

Participants jog while picking up litter, especially plastic waste. Once a particular trail has been cleaned, they move on to the next one, and the chain continues.

Oloude started his mission in the southern Benin commune of Abomey Calavi, and it has since spread to many parts of the country.

"We are part of a non-profit operating in several countries. Its mission is to contribute to protecting the living environment and empowering young people, women, and marginalised groups through education and capacity-building," says Oloude.

Keeping things simple Eco-jogging builds on the idea that any joint activity involving a shared objective or purpose and infused with a sense of joy in the process of achieving that goal has a clear chance of success.

JVE-Bénin volunteers are bound by their love of jogging and a commitment to keep public spaces clean.

"We usually start with all of us getting everyone together and doing a short warm-up routine. We then present the route to be covered on a particular day," Oloude tells TRT Afrika.

"To create a bit of atmosphere, there may be some music and whistling, which also help draw in passers-by. Everyone who sees us during the action is invariably interested in what we do."

Oloude sees the encouragement and spontaneous participation of random people on the streets and other public spaces as a reflection of the potential of eco-jogging to grow into something infinitely more significant than he could have imagined while starting this journey.

Whether it is the area around the botanical gardens at Université d'Abomey-Calavi, the Place de l'Amazone, or the Place des Martyrs in Cotonou, the 100-strong JVE-Bénin eco-jogging squad can be counted on to put in the hard yards.

Oloude points out that plastic waste is the leading cause of unsanitary conditions in most urban areas.

Waste-disposal problem

A World Bank article on the production and management of plastic waste reports that in 2018 alone, 6.9 million tonnes of plastic waste were dumped by the 17 coastal countries of West Africa.

Although Benin banned the use of plastic bags in 2017 to promote reusable packaging, the reality on the ground suggests otherwise.

According to the Benin plastics factsheet, the country is a net importer of plastics. In 2019, for example, 6.7 million kg of plastics were imported into the country, including polyvinyl, ethylene, and aluminium, all non-biodegradable.

Against this backdrop, which is standard across the continent, Oloude has mobilised young people, most students, to push his country's environmental cause.

"I was 20 when my love for nature led me to the department of climate change and ecosystem management at the Institut du Cadre de vie in the University of Abomey-Calavi," says the young campaigner, nicknamed "SuperEco".

''What we want from the authorities is support. We want them to link up with various associations campaigning for this cause.

We would like there to be a dynamic to get students, and everyone else in society, to give their all to the environmental cause."

In July 2023, Salvator Niyonzima, resident coordinator of the United Nations in Benin, flagged the consumption of single-use plastic products as the primary reason for the proliferation of non-biodegradable waste in the country.

During a clean-up operation, 2,150 kg of plastic waste was collected in an hour in the Zongo district of Cotonou.

Oloude believes the plastic litter problem will only worsen unless a sustainable solution based on mass awareness is found.

"Protecting the environment is everyone's business, not just the concern of specialists in the field," SuperEco tells TRT Afrika.

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