This weekend marked the third edition of World Clean Up Day. In Nice, several actions took place, including one organized by the Métropole NCA and the City of Nice, alongside partner associations: Everyday.earth, Global Shapers Nice, and Nice Plogging. The event featured the presence of Pierre-Paul Léonelli, Deputy Mayor of Nice, in charge of cleanliness.
World Clean Up Day is one of the largest citizen and environmental mobilizations in the world. Its purpose? To raise awareness about environmental protection and reduce waste. To achieve this, numerous actions, including waste collections, are implemented worldwide on the same day.
In Nice, on Saturday morning, about fifty volunteers gathered at Square Général Leclerc, in the city center, to carry out a waste collection. Following the established health guidelines, participants were divided into small groups of a maximum of ten people.
570 kilos of waste collected
After receiving some instructions, participants of all ages set out to different areas of the city, gloves and trash bags in hand, to find as much waste as possible. Cigarette butts, cans, plastics, metal, packaging, papers… everything was covered. “The city gave us a whole area to take action in,” explained a member of the Everyday.Earth group.
Two hours later, participants returned to the rendezvous point to deposit their bags and tally the collection. And the result was impressive, as 570 kilos of waste and 110,000 cigarette butts were collected in just two hours, much to the delight of the participants. “We need to educate our fellow citizens to adopt eco-friendly behavior. I am very happy to see so many young people, children, and teenagers,” noted Pierre-Paul Léonelli, Deputy Mayor of Nice, responsible for cleanliness, collection, and green spaces.
The mobilization of associations
About ten associations were mobilized for the collection. Surfrider, Everyday.earth, and Global Shapers Nice, among others… These groups are active throughout the year. This is the case for the Everyday.Earth association, “We try to raise awareness among the people of Nice about waste generation and incivilities,” said Jasmine Pataa, a member of the group. Several actions are carried out over the year, such as “Nice Plogging, a waste collection every Wednesday at 6:30 PM, starting from Place du Pin.”
