This Saturday in Toulouse, volunteers collected 28,200 cigarette butts for three hours, as part of the Mégothon. The metropolis wants to accelerate its fight against the scourge.
On the Place de la Daurade, on the banks of the Garonne, volunteers in fluorescent orange and yellow vests scan the lawn as they slalom among the people of Toulouse who have come to relax in the sun. They collect the cigarette butts left on the lawn.
This Saturday, a dozen associations participated in the Mégothon, a national operation – in which 10 cities participate – on the occasion of World Oceans Day. “We would like to reach 70,000 cigarettes collected today,” says Cathy Sanchez, president of World clean up day.
Along with this meticulous work carried out by around sixty volunteers, awareness-raising workshops attracted onlookers.
Thousands of ashtrays
But in the Pink City as elsewhere, bad habits die hard. The impact of cigarettes thrown on the ground is considerable; Cigarette butts are the number one cause of ocean pollution. To limit this scourge, the metropolis of Toulouse has crisscrossed its territory with 6,800 baskets, the majority of which are accompanied by a cigarette holder.
In certain streets of Toulouse, an ashtray is placed every 30 meters. For Nicolas Misiak, deputy mayor in charge of cleanliness, cigarette butts on the ground are above all “a problem of good citizenship”. “It is through operations such as the Mégothon that we must set an example and provide support. The educational component is very important but if it is not enough, the repressive part has its usefulness, ”confides the elected official. In 2022, the brigade against incivility drew up more than 10,000 minutes, half of which for cigarettes left on the ground. In June, two operations are scheduled near Place Saint-Pierre. And the bill is salty for smokers with bad reflexes…