Date/Time
Date(s) - 26/11/2025
1:30 pm - 2:30 pm

#HASTalks is a seminar series curated by The Department of Health, Aging & Society at McMaster University.

This event is co-hosted with the Gilbrea Centre for Studies in Aging.

Dr. Kelsey Harvey, PhD is an Assistant Professor of Experiential Studies in Community and Sport at Cape Breton University. A social gerontologist by training, her research is at the intersection of physical activity, community, and education in later life. Her current and past projects include research on interprofessional health and social service education in Canada, learning in and about nature through plogging/walking while picking up litter, and identity and social belonging in group fitness for older exercisers. She uses community-based and participatory methods to ground her research in the lived experiences and daily realities of older people.

Trash Talk: What Plogging Teaches Us About Age and Activism

Older generations are commonly represented in popular media as having caused the circumstances that resulted in climate change and lacking concern about environmental issues. These narratives evoke sentiments of division and conflict between older and younger generations, thus undermining collective action to address climate change. This presentation will share results from an ethnographic study examining intergenerational relationships among Canadians (ages 20s to 80s) who engage in plogging (i.e., picking up litter while walking, jogging, running, biking, etc.). These individuals were motivated to engage in plogging and litter clean ups as a generative activity, taking care of animals, communities, and the planet. They described plogging as a pursuit benefitting individuals’ personal physical and mental/cognitive health, which with various tools could be adapted with age and ability. Older individuals also described feeling a deep sense of civic and environmental responsibility for ensuring cleaner and healthier futures, often citing guilt for industrial and political economic activities during their lifetime that contributed to climate change. Finally, plogging and litter clean ups brought younger and older generations together, fostering intergenerational solidarity in the pursuit of sustainability.

ALL are welcome to attend this FREE online session! Register for this event via Zoom.

Please note: This session may be recorded. Please be aware that any materials entered, exchanged, or viewed by participants during the session may be recorded.