The NGO Project Rescue Ocean is banking on “young generations, civic-mindedness and common sense” to save the oceans

Volunteers worked all day Saturday, May 18 to clean the banks of the Orb, between Sauvian and Sérignan. Diane Petitmangin – Midi Libre

Benoît Schumann, the founder and president of the NGO, participated in the Orb Festival with his daughter. Diane Petitmangin – Midi Libre

Avec le concours précieux de Bayou canoë, les volontaires ont arpenté les berges de l’Orb à pied mais aussi en canoë pour débusquer les déchets. Diane Petitmangin – Midi Libre

The NGO founded in 2014 by Benoît Schumann was on the banks of the Orb, Saturday May 18, to carry out a collection and an operation to raise awareness among the general public about the issue of litter.

It was in 2014 that Benoît Schumann, the founder and president of Project Rescue Ocean, collected his first kilo of waste on the beach, between Sérignan and Sauvian. A revelation! Since then, the NGO has come a long way and has spread to numerous branches in France and internationally. ;rsquo;Orb and the cleaning of the banks of the river, this Saturday, May 18, between Sauvian and Sérignan, he and Didier Bardy, the head of the Biterroise branch, take stock of the challenges to be taken up.

How do you explain the success of Project Rescue Ocean ?

Benoît Schumann: I wanted to raise awareness among those around me, of course, but also my professional environment, that of firefighters, and sports, rugby, to show that we could put the human element back into place at the center of the environmental problem. Because our behaviors, our bad habits have a direct effect on nature due to this litter. I used social networks to post photos and videos and launch calls for mobilization. And from there arrived the first partners and sponsors from Béziers, who allowed us to finance our equipment to multiply actions like those of this Saturday, with adapted logistical means: gloves, quad, trailer, truck,  etc.

David, one of the PRO volunteers, weighs and sorts the waste collected by his comrades for the day. Diane Petitmangin – Midi Libre

The subject of the environment or nature protection can be a divisive subject today – should we move towards zero waste ? Should we be vegan ? – but we are beyond these controversies. It is simply a return to civics and common sense.

The association is showing increasingly consistent results, no ?

Over the past nine years, we have collected more than 657 tonnes of litter through our actions. We have also increased the number of branches: the first was born in Béziers and today, we have 45 throughout France and around the world. And what we do on the Orb is more than a collection, it is an operation to raise awareness among the general public. To show that it’s easy and friendly to get involved.

You place particular emphasis on the education of young people?

Exactly and, moreover, we have been accredited by National Education for our eco-citizen awareness in schools and we are a club member of Unesco , that is to say we defend universal values ​​of peace united around the environmental cause. We have to go through the education of the youngest, that’s why we set up the PRO Academy, which only does interventions in schools.  In 2023 , 13,000 children were trained throughout the country and around the world.

An already edifying collection at the end of the morning, this Saturday, May 18, in Sérignan. Diane Petitmangin – Midi Libre

Didier Bardy: For example, we have the Marc-Bloch high school, which is very invested. During the integration days of the 2nd grade classes, they clean the beach and river for a whole week during bike outings. And they have classes that have created mini-businesses around the issue of waste. It keeps us hopeful…

Is it a generational problem?

Didier Darby : No doubt… Thirty years ago, municipal landfills were still being set up anywhere, especially near rivers. And there are plenty of people who don't understand why we do that. We hear a lot of speeches, like: "I'm not here to pick up other people's shit" or "we just have to have prisoners do it"… But it’s blaming one’s own responsibility on others.

Benoît Schumann: It is above all a problem of ignorance of the natural environment, of the water cycle whether it is the rainwater or wastewater circuit, the difference between a river, a river or a stream, to know where waste thrown at the side of the road will end up… Our role is to act with motivation and hope around our charter of eco-citizen commitment and to always have objectives.

What exactly is your next goal?

Benoît Schumann: The NGO has set itself the goal, for 2030, of collecting one million kilos of litter and reaching more than 100,000 children graduate 'Ocean Rescuers'.

Tons of waste on the banks and at the bottom of the Orb

With the valuable assistance of Bayou Canoë and the high school students of Marc-Bloch, the volunteers took turns throughout the day, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., to collect waste along the banks of the Orb, between Sauvian and Sérignan. Some of them, such as Didier Bardy, the head of the Béziers branch, even dove into the waters of the river, despite very poor visibility, to find tires, metal parts and other plastic waste.

Equipped with jute bags, gloves and tongs, the volunteers of the day take turns to weigh and then place their finds on the large tarpaulin. “We sort first because glass, plastic bottles, soda cans are recycled, as well as cigarette butts,” explains a volunteer. The rest ends up in the big dumpster next to it.

"This is the 4th Orb Festival that we are organizing. The first year, there were 50 of us who mobilized and we "harvested" 800 kg and during the 2nd and 3rd operations, we made 3 tonnes and 3.5 tonnes !", indicates Didier Bardy. For this 2024 edition, the "score" is 1.097 kg collected.

I subscribe to read more