A small yellow fish with childish features on a sky blue background, surrounded by the words: "Here begins the sea", "Do not throw anything". The small macaron has just been placed near a swallow, near the school of Mouen, a small town in the West of Caen. One of the 300 that will bloom in the agglomeration community of Caen-la-Mer by the summer. "We came to inaugurate it in Mouen, which is not located on the coast, to raise awareness about the impact of waste, which follows the path of rainwater," says Romain Bail, vice-president of the agglomeration, in charge of the coast.
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This pollution is difficult to quantify but, according to estimates provided to Romain Bail, "20 to 30% of pollution on beaches comes from the territory of the urban community. The palm for "cigarette butts and candy wrappers, as well as lollipop sticks", according to the elected official, in the front row in the coastal town of Ouistreham, of which he is also the mayor. The macaron, the result of an internal competition of ideas, joins the arsenal of awareness.
But here, this little circle on the ground appears very timidly in the eyes of passers-by. In Mouen, Méline, 19, confesses "not to have paid too much attention" to the little fish and its message. Juliette and Aymerina, 14 years old each, confirm: "We had noticed without really knowing what it is. We need a bigger sign." To this lack of visibility is added the question of the scale of the campaign: 200 macaroons in Caen, a hundred spread over the 47 other localities of the agglomeration. Even if Caen-la-Mer indicates that it wants to gradually increase their number to 1000 in the coming years, we are far from submersion.
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The macaron is not intended to revolutionize the fight against "these pollutants, these plastics," admits Romain Bail. But it allows "to touch the everyday, near the sewers". The agglomeration will also put more grids on its drains and in its treatment plants, in order to better filter the water. And there is something, as evidenced by the young women crossed in Mouen: "We see people throwing their cigarette butts, I think they don't care". The cute little fish of Caen-la-Mer will now look the unscrupulous in the eyes.
