aixcentric

Amongst all the superlatives heaped by writers on Provence, one I hadn’t realised until now was that we are the home to France’s third largest illegal rubbish dump. Of course it’s clearly visible from the D9 as you pass the TGV station, but it’s sad to learn that it’s so extensive: 5000m2 of festering fly-tipping that has been building up now for 5 years.

Great then that Le Grand Nettoyage which started end October has already cleared over a quarter of the site.  In case you were wondering where it has gone, the answer is Gardanne where 85% is recycled.

The site itself is being cleaned and protected by what they firmly call ‘dissuasion d’acces’, in other words mounds of earth, trenches and video-surveillance.  More in the current Aix Le Mag: http://www.aixenprovence.fr/Aix-le-Mag-14248

And while on this subject, here’s news of an inspiring Yorkshireman, Ed Platt, now resident in Marseille and founder of ‘1 Dechet par Jour’.  He organises regular litter collections and encourages people in their everyday lives to just pick up one piece a day to make a difference.  Now he and a photojournalist have just completed a 59 day walk from Marseille to Paris during which they picked up over 5000 disused masks.

Most nights were spent in the open, with locals offering food and drink.  ‘I don’t want to know how much alcohol I drank,’ he joked to the Times. Police stopped them 7 times for breaching lockdown rules but weren’t fined once they explained their socially-valuable mission which included dropping in to local schools to talk to the children about pollution.  And yes they did wear gloves and use a grabber-stick.  More: https://www.wantedineurope.com/news/two-friends-walk-from-marseille-to-paris-to-collect-used-masks.html