Net’Léman or...

The cleaning up of the lake!

 

This past Saturday and Sunday the 8^th edition of this event took place in many spots along the entire lake both on the Swiss and French sides.  The organisor – ASL (Association pour la sauvegarde du Léman or The Association for the safekeeping of the Lake Leman – more commonly known by foreigners as Lake Geneva) has been active long before it became popular to try and clean up various water areas. My older son has been a member since his scout days and did a river cleanup as his Eagle Scout project – with their assistance).

When I stopped on my way into town at one of the stands, I was informed that 1’500 volunteers were expected. They have collected some 100 tons of trash during the first editions, but unfortunately people still dump things in inappropriate places.

some of the collectors

a group of kids doing their bit

One of the collection sites

Throughout the weekend though on top of the collecting of trash, there were many workshops concerning the reduction of trash, recycling or repairing every day items.

The goal is not only to pick up what others have thrown away, but to educate the public as to what they need to do to lower the volume: the few photos that I took showed that children are greatly interested and doing their part. The goal of a Net’Léman with 0 trash will probably never be met, but one can aspire to less trash, not only in the lake, but in our lives!

one of the sorting tarps

details of the TV in the picture above

same tarp and off to the side

one person's list of collected items

a couple of the divers... one where there are bubbles

For those living around the lake, plan on helping next May: www.netleman.ch or become a member of the ASL which, in addition to its work concerning the lake, also helps organize the regular cleaning of the various rivers emptying into the lake www.asleman.ch