Littering is one of the most common and simple actions that is detrimental to our environment, and while it should theoretically be one of the easiest things to put a stop to, it turns out to be one of the most difficult. There are various reasons as to why people litter and why it proves to be so difficult to stop in our current day and age. Some of the more common reasons for littering are laziness, carelessness, lack of access to trash receptacles, lenient law enforcement, and presence of litter already in the area. All of these reasons are largely amplified when the rapidly growing population of the planet is taken into consideration. For most people, at a glance, throwing a simple plastic cup off to the sidewalk seemed rather trivial. It is truly difficult to fully comprehend what kind of monumental effect that piece of plastic you just throw away could have on the air you breathe, the food you eat, and the planet you live on. Impacts on Natural Resources: As for the effects that littering has on our environment, next to simply being unsightly, littering could have long lasting and detrimental effects such as water pollution, 60% of which is caused by littering, as litter such as cigarette butts (which is one of the most common litter items) could pollute our soil and freshwater sources due to chemicals that they contain, impacting not only ourselves, but also many animal species. Next to being largely responsible for the majority of our planet’s water and land pollution, litter also pollutes the air we breathe. Researchers estimate that around 40% of litter produced is burned into the open air, which release toxic emissions into the environment. These emissions can lead to numerous health problems including respiratory issues. Impacts on Wildlife: Animals are one of the most common victims of littering. Litter killes hundreds, if not thousands of different animals every day, and it is estimated by researchers that over one million animals lost their lives due to ingesting or getting trapped in litter every year. The most largely impacted group among these animals are marine animals. It is estimated that around one hundred thousand dolphins, turtles, fish, and whales die each year after becoming entangled in plastic waste. Impacts on Health: Poorly disposed trash and garbage are one of the most common breeding grounds for dangerous bacteria and viruses. There are two methods in which litter could spread diseases, being direct and indirect contact. Germs could be transmitted to humans through improper handling of garbage, or possibly through insects that have interacted with said garbage that will then transfer the germs to humans. The main reason we carried out our youth exchange “Plogging Towards a Greener Future” was to raise the new generation’s knowledge, awareness, sensitivity, and initiative when it came to global pollution through the use of non- formal tools such a “Plogging” which is essentially jogging while picking up litter in a careful and cleanly manner. Through the success of this goal, we had a positive impact on our planet’s future and help to transfer lessons and knowledge regarding global pollution to a wider range of individuals. The passion that we had as a community to help stop environmental pollution led the way for us to come up with the youth exchange “Plogging Towards a Greener Future”. The main goals that we achieved throughout our youth exchange were as follows: -Increased the new generation’s knowledge, awareness, sensitivity, and initiative about global pollution. -Increased young people’s skillsets when it came to addressing global issues such as environmental pollution. -Introduced young people to non-formal and informal learning methods in order to help stray away from the formal education system. -Introduced young people to creative and innovative solutions to grand issues in the form of plogging. -Provided young people with fewer opportunities an opportunity to broaden their horizons, get involved with the Erasmus + Programme, and better themselves in multiple regards. -Encouraged peer to peer learning and provide young people with the opportunity to learn from their peers, organisations, and practices from different countries. -Increased the initiative of young people by encouraging them to take action against global issues such as global pollution and increasing their active citizenship in general. -Helped participants develop several competencies as both described in, and outside of Youth Pass. The main competency in focus was active citizenship as we helped participants make an impact on a larger scale. -One of the main goals of our youth exchange was to support the personal and professional development of our participants through the use of lifelong learning.