On Monday April 24, Perpignan’s Youth Department, in partnership with the LIONS CLUB Saint-Cyprien Doyen, organized a campaign to raise awareness of microplastic pollution of the seas and oceans. For the occasion, some fifty young people aged 11 to 17 from 6 Perpignan neighborhoods, supervised by local EAJ (Espace Adolescent Jeunesse) managers, gathered at the Salle la Diagonal in Vernet.

At 10 a.m., they attended a lecture on the subject by Anne-Leila MEISTERTZHEIM, a doctor of marine biology and founding president of Plastic@sea. The aim of this company is to study and propose alternative solutions to food and packaging manufacturers to limit pollution. The attentive young audience asked pertinent questions, showing that they were already well aware of the problem and, above all, of the right reflexes to adopt.

Two of Perpignan’s mayoral deputies and the director of the youth department were also present.

At the end of the conference, the assembly went outside to meet up with the road services to tag on the ground the slogan in front of the stormwater inlets “Ici commence la mer ne rien jeter” (“Here begins the sea, throw nothing away”), using stencils made for the occasion and chalk spray cans. This operation follows on from an action proposed by Jean MARCHAL, in charge of sustainable development for the South district, which was part of the “BIEN DANS NOTRE TET” collaborative clean-up day on the banks of the TET (river) with municipal services. It will continue at a later date on all the city’s avaloirs, but this time with resources adapted to a larger scale, by the same departments.

In the afternoon, the children and EAJ staff travelled by bus to the Sardinal beach in Canet, at the mouth of the TET river, to collect plastic and household waste. The town hall provided bags, gloves and pliers. The collection wasn’t very abundant, but the beach was relatively clean, as this year there were no major waves and the tourist season hadn’t yet begun.

Jean