“Y’en a un gros là-bas !”, cries Amable, an eight-year-old boy who, joined by his dad, tracks down every plastic bag to pick up. The little boy runs around and uses his grabber and gloves to put his findings in the plastic bag. His father thinks it’s important to bring him here, “to teach him that we can’t throw our trash on the ground, that we need to sort it,” and “for the environment,” adds the little boy.
Twenty people have come for the collective cleanup organized at Henri Queuille Square (Paris 15th) as part of World Cleanup Day. Mathilde is here because she is “obsessive,” “yes, at my place… but also for what’s on the street!” She takes her task to heart: picking up dozens of cigarette butts, candy and cookie wrappers.
And what was bound to happen… “The goal is indeed to pick up,” continues Mathilde, “but also to raise awareness, and in fact, three people praised us.” Who? “The lady behind us.” “Yes, of course, I praised them,” agrees Julie, in her fifties. “I’ve been living in the neighborhood for 18 years and I’m tired of seeing young people leave their trash in the street on Friday nights when they come back from parties.” Except that during the interview, oops, Julie throws her cigarette butt on the ground, realizes it, “Oh, sorry, I did it unconsciously, sorry, sorry, sorry.”
The one-day collectors wear gloves and use grabbers to avoid bending over. © Radio France – SC
For Matthieu Réal, from the association 500 Litres, the organizer of the cleanup, cigarette butts are indeed the most collected items during a cleaning day. In fact, according to a Vinci Autoroute study revealed in July by France Bleu Paris, 50% of people under 35 do not make the effort to put their cigarette ends in the trash can. “In Paris, many people don’t have that reflex: to simply go to the trash can,” murmurs Matthieu Réal.
That day, the organizer has high hopes of collecting between 10 and 15 kilograms of trash. A regular participant in Cleanup Day confesses that it is “a bit demoralizing to see that there is always so much work, every time.” Manon, on the other hand, is on her first cleanup: “Paris would be even more beautiful if it were clean.”
During the cleanup. © Radio France – SC
