shocking.......

Last Saturday, I took part in a group clean-up action on a piece of land on the edge of Guéret, where it is hoped a large collective garden project will develop (just waiting for official stamp to go ahead).

There are open fields, flat and sloping, plus a pretty little stream running through a copse. We concentrated on clearing debris among the trees and along the banks of the stream.
 Wearing wellies, I waded over to the far bank to gather visible plastic....and being up close, gradually saw that the whole bank was completely fouled up with...baby-wipes ('lingettes' en français). They were grey/brown, could date back as far as 30 years when the current sewage works was installed, and largely concealed by sediment and leaf litter.
Starting to pull the immediately visible stuff away, more and more and more became apparent, and it was possible to fill up heavy sack loads of the yukky synthetic pollution within a tiny surface area, barely moving a metre along the bank per hour.
It was so shocking and desperately sad to discover this grim pollution along a pretty stream just down from a small town 15 000 inhabitants....there are hours and hours of clean-up necessary to get rid of all the contamination....and this must be a tiny example of all there must be to deal with in the world.

caddie 'attrape lingettes'

Baby-wipes are not an essentiel item, we can well do without....and certainly no flushing down the loo, the equivalent of a synthetic washing-up sponge each time....at the very least, a sponge can be used lots of times before disposal.
The main consumers...and culprits....I guess are women, whether through baby-care or make-up removal etc.
Please please please, for the welfare of your children aswell as numerous beings who have to live in these habitats, never flush synthetics down the toilet (sanitary towels included), and better still, stop buying these superfluous products which, in return for a few seconds of 'cleaning', then leave behind a devastating pollution for decades, and for miles.
I have never ever bought a pack of baby-wipes in my life, and am not deprived by boycotting such a terrible product. I have used sanitary towels of course, though never flushed them down the loo....I hope my participation in the clean-up Saturday....and even more, if this message helps others to stop consuming and flushing....these small acts help to compensate for my own contribution to plastic waste during my life-time.
We all have a long way to go to clean up our acts, for now, the past and the future.

recolte d'un après-midi avec les chasseurs de déchets creuse à Guéret: plusieurs caddies, une mobylette, les bouteilles, plastic diverses, et les sacs et sacs et sacs de lingettes dégoûtant qui sont accroché sur les rives du risseau