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As they gathered at the Saint-Barth Yacht Club on the late morning of Sunday October 12, the participants in the "Clean up" expressed mixed feelings. On the one hand, satisfaction. On the other hand, satisfaction at having played an active part in the major clean-up operation organized jointly by the Rotary Club, the Lions Club and Super U stores. In fact, there were far fewer volunteers than in previous years (around 100, compared with nearly 180 in 2024). On the other hand, disgust. Mainly on discovering the amount of garbage that had been collected in the island's neighbourhoods in just one morning.
Although there were fewer of them, the volunteer "collectors" still managed to extract almost 2.9 tonnes (2.88 to be precise) of various and sundry garbage from nature, compared with 2.7 tonnes last year. Were they more effective than their predecessors? Is the island becoming an open-air dumping ground for pigs of all kinds? For the time being, the question remains unanswered.
"2.9 tons, that's a lot..." she says.
Axelle Capelli, President of the Rotary Club of Saint-Barthélemy, was in charge of making sandwiches at the Saint-Barth Yacht Club's lunchtime barbecue. A hundred people is not a lot," she says. Perhaps the fact that we changed the location of the morning meeting (in the Super U parking lot in Saint-Jean instead of the Pearl Beach car park) had something to do with it. But we're happy all the same because, unfortunately, we exceeded last year's figure with fewer people. We had families, children and friends. 2.9 tons is a lot..."
Before closing the gates of the Paprec landfill in Public, which remained open all morning to welcome the six trucks from partner companies that collected waste during the Clean up, deputy director Sandrine Ciminera recounts: "In my opinion, 2.88 tonnes is still far too much. It's all polluting nature enormously. In spite of all the communication we do, in spite of the free waste depots for private individuals, we still find baby toys, fridges, scrap metal, things that could easily be taken to a waste disposal center. It's so much easier to get in your car and drive five kilometers to respect the island's image. "She also mentions car wrecks, bottles...
Ghislaine Chapuy (Lilou!), President of the Saint-Barth Lions Club, has been taking part in the operation since 2012, and is bitterly disappointed: "We're collecting just as much garbage as when we started. It's a bit desperate and I'd love to see teenagers get involved. But it's difficult. Fortunately, there's always a core of loyal supporters and then there are the new ones. "Like Super U, which joined the organization this year.
"Pigs..."
Representing the company is Justine Ensminger, office manager in charge of the human resources department and also of the working group called "the island and its environment". This is one of the eleven working groups Super U has set up. "As eco-responsibility is an important value for us, we carry out a number of actions, including taking part in this kind of event. "And for her first, Justine was surprised. Some people are pigs," she laughs. I didn't think we'd find so many things. And the cigarette butts... I was devastated. Air conditioners, tires... Axelle had told me we'd find things like that, but I had no idea. I think it's a shame to pollute the island like that. "Other discoveries were less voluminous but just as surprising. Like a small bag of cocaine on a sidewalk in Gustavia. Even before the start of the season, it's promising.
Nils Dufau, a former president of the Rotary Club but a tireless volunteer who never loses his enthusiasm, is delighted with the changes in the organization. Unity is strength," he says. The results are good, or bad, I couldn't say, when you find so much garbage. It helps clean up the island before the season starts. "
The pigs now have a year in which to go about their sad business of wrecking the island's landscape.
