Every year in June, several hundred mountain lovers don their (gardening) gloves to collect and sort the garbage that has appeared on the trails when the snow melts. An enlightening clean-up operation ( Mountain Zero Waste "), which gives us some tips on how to adopt the right individual reflexes to reduce the amount of unwanted rubbish collected year after year. Here are 5 easy steps to take today!
I'm a smoker: I take a pocket ashtray with me
A figure to start with: in 2024, no fewer than 15,000 cigarette butts were collected by volunteers during the " Montagne Zéro Déchet " clean-up operation! Year after year (and without pride), cigarette butts take 1st place on the podium of litter found in the mountains at the start of summer.
The solution? Take a pocket ashtray with you and slip the remains of your "smoke break" on the ski area, before throwing them in the garbage can when you get home. Pocket ashtrays are available from tourist office reception desks or from ski lift sales outlets.
Or you could try quitting smoking (you've been promising your lungs you'd quit for so long, so maybe a vacation in the fresh air is the right time? Take heart).
Less packaging = less risk
Far behind cigarette butts, but still all too present in the mountains, we find a variety of food packaging: water or soda bottles, cling film used to wrap a sandwich...
To limit the risk of scattering all this plastic in the mountains, it's a good idea to wage war on over-packaging and opt for reusable containers. It's time to pull out your collection of water bottles and thermos flasks, and your reusable DIY packaging made from beeswax-impregnated fabric! It's mathematical: the less plastic you take with you, the less you risk losing on hiking trails and ski slopes.
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At picnic time, we prefer landscaped areas
You can see the scene from here: it's winter, the sun is shining, you've been making turns on the ski slopes since 9am in the morning when suddenly your stomach starts rumbling. It's got the timing wrong: the conditions are really too good to stop for lunch on the terrace! So you decide to take a sandwich out of your rucksack on the chairlift and gobble it down in 2 minutes to continue riding. An unfortunate gust of wind and HOP: you watch helplessly as your ham-and-butter wrapper flies off.
That's right: the little pieces of paper you find on the trails in June have rarely been thrown away voluntarily by their former owners.
The right thing to do: take the time to go to a picnic area (such as a picnic room) when hunger starts to make itself felt. Because it's better *to do one thing well* than *to do two things badly*.
And in summer, when you're out for a day hike? Same principle: stop "for real" at the edge of the trail, and take the time to eat your picnic in a restricted space (rather than risk losing a wrapper by munching on an energy bar without reducing your pace). After all, it's the vacations, there's no hurry.
The double-check: because nobody's infallible!
In rock climbing, climbers are accustomed to performing a safety "partner check" before setting off. The principle: each partner checks the other's knot or belay system, and no one sees this as a lack of confidence in their partner.
The same goes for waste! Never assume that you've left a clean sweep behind you: double-check that there's no paper, cigarette butts or tissues lying around before continuing your walk (and make sure your children are aware of this double-check: they'll be delighted with this new responsibility, which is so important for the planet!)
The art of choosing the right pocket for your handkerchief (or candy wrapper)
Have you ever come home from a hike with the firm intention of emptying your pockets... only to find that what was there an hour ago is no longer there? We do! Handkerchiefs, candy wrappers, shopping lists... all these little things have a tendency to sneak out, despite our precautions. So how do we stop feeling guilty about having unwittingly redecorated the paths with our garbage?
Simply slip them into the right pocket! Ideally, a closed pocket in which you never put your hands. In other words: the inside pocket of your jacket (which you rediscover as you walk by, so hidden is it) rather than that pocket in which you keep your keys (or your hands to protect them from the cold).
And there you have it! 5 practical tips to put into practice on a daily basis (and even more so when you're out and about in the great outdoors).
To take it a step further: take part in the "Montagne Zéro Déchet" clean-up operation . Mountain Zero Waste " organized every year in June. On the program: collective collection, waste characterization to identify the various sources of pollution and devise effective preventive actions, and a meal offered to participants.
