Armed with three shovels, garbage bags and protective gloves, Kader, Emma, Julien and Ricardo cross the road that runs along the banks of the Seine, with determined steps, ready to do battle with… Waste.
For nearly five months, these Audonians have gathered on weekends to pick up the piles of rubbish that litter the quays of the Seine, opposite the docks.
Cans, plastics, fabrics, shoes, glass bottles… The site is in a bad state.
The pollution is such that no Audonian really wants to walk there.
“It was while going to the docks one day to take pictures that I saw ducks eating polystyrene. I told myself that something had to be done. This place has so much potential. If the town seems unwilling to do anything, well, it's up to us, citizens to take matters into our own hands and roll up our sleeves, ”says Kader, 33, a young entrepreneur who has lived in Saint-Ouen for five years. . Regularly, it organizes dock cleaning operations via a Facebook call.
This Sunday, July 11, they are only three to have responded. " It's the holidays. Difficult to mobilize people, ”smiles Kader. Among the volunteers of the day, Julien, the father of a family, does not hesitate to get wet to go and fish a can floating on the banks of the banks. “It's important that people get out there to do something. Coming here, I feel useful. Even if sometimes, when we go back several days after cleaning, we discover that there is as much waste as before, ”blows the thirty-something.