Cheating in spogomi
I have written about Sport and Crime in Sports Criminology and about litter as a criminological subject so was fascinated to hear about the new sport of spogomi - competitive litter picking. I had already heard of plogging its more recreational cousin that allows for running but not official competition.
In my book I point out the many connections that might be made between the rules, regulation and judicial regimes of sport and those of the societies - increasingly global - in which they are located and of criminology’s failure to address sport as a topic. I have a long history of addressing ecological issues in criminology (drugs and corporate crime 1991!).
In my book I mention a few ecological and green issues for sport, for instance the polluting effects of cars yet motor sport is lionised but its bad brother ‘joyriding’ (the subject of my PhD) is damned.
I touch on how a green criminology and a rural criminology may not agree on the ethics of blood/field sports but fox-hunting, badger-baiting and hare-coursing all have ecological consequences. And we should not forget the water usage of golf courses and the amount of concrete poured and air miles entailed by international competition.
So what of spogomi? As a criminologist I immediately thought how might people cheat? The few rules of spogomi suggest they thought some might:
The distance between the first and last member should not be more than 10 meters apart.
The goal is reached when the last member crosses the finish line and reports to the judge standing at the finish line.
Do not run (fast walking is allowed)
- Walking: Method of movement with either foot on the ground at all times
- Running: a method of movement in which there is a moment when both feet leave the ground, float, or jump at the same time.
What not to pick up
- Trash already in the trash bin
- Trash left at garbage collection points
- Trash that appears to be owned by others - judging from the surroundings (arranged and placed, signs of having been used recently, etc.)
Bulky waste
Large trash that does not fit into the garbage bags to be distributed (700 mm x 500 mm = 30 liters)
Examples: batteries / fans / futons / cushions / fire extinguishers / concrete / blocks / safes / metal bars / tires / wheels / stoves / computers / strollers / rice cookers
- Hazardous waste (syringes, broken glass, torn metal)
- Trash picked up by lifting road gutters and dovetails
- Do not leave the competition area
- Areas you are not allowed to enter
- Rivers and oceans
- Private property
About the parking lot
Coin-operated parking lots, although privately owned, shall be accessible due to their public nature that anyone can use them (parking lots exclusively for companies, organizations, etc. shall not be allowed).
- Observe separation rules.
- Observe traffic rules.
World Champion litter-picker, Sarah Parry, experienced another team trying to pick litter from their bag during the Championships in Tokyo. The story inThe Guardian is pitched as quirky but clearly matters might get out of hand in a Squid or Hunger Games fashion with violence breaking out. But to draw back from my criminal catastrophising, what about the ecological issues?
Japan is famously tidy and litter free but without the authoritarianism of Singapore. I went to Japan to see the Rugby World Cup in 2019 (yes, my carbon foot print blown for a while) and saw little litter. On early morning jogs I did find groups - of mostly elderly people - litter picking voluntarily without threat of punishment or sporting inducement. I often pick litter myself and don’t like the idea of it being used as punishment. So I worry. Where did they find highly littered places in Japan (OK, Tokyo was slightly worse)? And did they they have to keep them littered until the day of competition? If this takes off will volunteers give up? And travelling half way round the world to pick litter? I look forward though to hearing of the first sporting scandal on spogomi.
So spogomi is quirkily presented as a good thing for the environment but I prefer the more spontaneous and playful voluntarism of just picking it up and slam dunking it in the bin!
In a moment of synchronicity I have discovered that Madeleine Orr was coming to the Hay Festival to discuss her book Warming Up: How Climate Change is Changing Sport. I live nearby and now have tickets so we’ll see if we have common ground.
