Emeryville, CA, October 22, 2019 – Decathlon today announced that the company collected 124 tons of trash at its World Cleanup Day events, held across 42 countries with over 24,000 participants worldwide. In the East Bay, Decathlon USA, together with Clif Bar & Company and IKEA Emeryville, in collaboration with Emeryville Council member John Bauters and Save The Bay, organized the first-ever city-wide plogging event, which combined running with picking up trash. Drawing over 100 runners from around the Bay, the plogging event added 450 pounds of trash to Decathlon’s global cleanup tally.
“We are proud to bring our global community together with a shared passion for protecting our environment and making the world a cleaner place,” said Michel d’Humières, CEO of Decathlon USA. “It was great to see athletes, families, runners, and even an entire class from Urban Promise Academy come out for our plogging event in Emeryville. We hope to continue the momentum to raise awareness about the health of our planet and continue to build on Decathlon’s global sustainability goals.”
Decathlon’s East Bay plogging event cleaned over 10 miles of city streets, starting at IKEA Emeryville and finishing at Decathlon East Bay. Event participants received exclusive plogging 100% recycled t-shirts, designed in Decathlon’s mountain headquarters in the Mont Blanc Valley. Globally, Decathlon hosted 500 cleanup events, including plogging, shoreline cleanups and street cleaning activities.