Thanks to cleaning operations, waste is decreasing on the banks of the Galeizon river in the Cévennes

Les 9 bénévoles ont collecté 107 kg de déchets sur les bords du Galéizon, l’un des affluents du Gardon d’Alès. Jési Agglo d'Alès

In the north of the Gard, on the banks of the Galeizon, a river labeled “Wild River Site”, volunteers have given their time to preserve the environment.

The Galeizon, a river located in the north of the Gard department, got a makeover on Thursday, August 8! And for good reason, nine volunteers took part in the operation to collect abandoned waste, at the initiative of the Syndicat des Hautes Vallées Cévenoles (SHVC) and two partners, the collective of volunteers “Jéci agglo d’Alès" and the territorial public basin establishment (EPTB) Gardons.

"We collected a lot of glass bottles, cans, packaging and recent baby diapers“, explains Marilyn Zépanski, spokesperson for the collective. In total, 107 kg of waste. "On the Galeizon, we have been working for about three years, two to three times a year. Over time, we have seen less waste because our work creates momentum. People who see us pick up other people's waste when they leave," she reassures.

But waste that comes back quickly…

"One of the big issues on the Galeizon is the summer attendancee", explains Rénald Vagner, technician at the EPTB Gardons. "Every day, there are a lot of bathers, especially from Alès. Despite the fact that the amount of waste is decreasing, this morning (Monday, August 12, Editor's note), there was already some at the place we cleaned “.

Waste from time spent at the river is not the only thing affected by this clean-up. Last year, two car wrecks and a cast iron boiler were removed. These collections are part of an action program defined as part of the “Site rivières sauvages” label that Galeizon has had since 2018.