One calls himself "the English snail", the other "the Marseillais wild boar".
Together, Frédéric Munsch, photographer reporter, and Edmund Platt, founder of the 1 waste per day association and author of the book “The Englishman who wanted to clean up France”, launched a major challenge: to reach Paris on foot from Marseille by picking up the thousands of surgical masks crossed on their way.
An Englishman who wants to clean up France
"The TGV runs at 300 km / h, I have always wanted to make the trip at 3 km / h", explains Edmund Platt.
In 2017, this Englishman from Leeds, who arrived in Marseille 11 years ago to give English lessons, hitchhiked across France to collect waste.
This time, it is with his sidekick Frédéric Munsch that he embarked on this adventure to tackle the scourge of the surgical mask.
“This is the trendy waste of the year,” says the photographer reporter.
“They are found everywhere: on the road, in car parks, in front of people's homes, in forests, by lakes… they are everywhere!
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More than 5,000 masks collected
After almost two months of traveling and more than 5,000 masks collected, the two friends finally have the capital in their sights.
“When we arrived in Villeneuve-Saint-Georges, we were hallucinated.
Before, we could travel several kilometers without seeing a mask, but when we arrive here, there is one every two meters ”, indignant Frédéric, alias“ the Marseillais boar ”.
“And we have just returned to Ile-de-France.
We will soon be able to fill a stadium in France with all these masks!
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Left on October 1, the funny Franco-British duo planned to arrive this Saturday, November 28 in Paris, at Gare de Lyon, after having walked nearly 880 km on the roads of France.