Remarkably less waste left on Oude Kwaremont: « The garbage bags and reusable cups do their work » (inland)
Waste on the old Kwaremont. – © Het Nieuwsblad
On Monday morning, the parcel team was almost ready on the Oude Kwaremont. Visibly less dirt had been left compared to in recent years. The organization has been working on the problem for years and that work provides. We hardly saw chairs, tables or backpacks on Monday. A big difference in the past.
Already during the Tour of Flanders ‘eco teams’ walked up and down the old Kwaremont with garbage bags. Until a few years ago Kwaremont Vlaanderens was dirty after the passage of Flanders’ most beautiful. The organization has been focusing on cleanliness for years, and that provides visible results.
The Ecofest team received help from Scouts from Lauwe. – © Peter Malaise
Evi Maréchal from Ecofest is a sustainable events adviser. « We try to come up with a system in advance to have the visitors sort, » she says. « There were garbage bins in tactical places, a lot of dirt bags were hung on the Nadars. We have been notice for several years that the visitor is starting to sort waste and throw in the garbage cans and garbage bags. We see that the garbage bags and the reusable cups do their work. »
« We have been noticing for several years that the visitor starts sorting waste and throws in the garbage cans and garbage bags. We see that the garbage bags and the reusable cups do their work »
Evi Maréchal
Ecofest
Stef, Patrick and Davy already cleared up during the race on Sunday. – © Peter Malaise
On Sunday there were 30 people to clean up. « We started after the last passage, that of the ladies. Because the passages were also being cleared, it remained relatively clean. On Sunday we worked until 8 pm, Monday morning we worked with 11 people. Around 10 o’clock the most work had already happened. Yet we are going up and down again, along with the scouts of Lauwe. » The arrival, the Paterberg and the Koppenberg were also cleaned up by Ecofest.
Butt
And although things are going in the right direction, it can be even better in the future. « Next year we will focus on butts, » says Maréchal. « We see that a lot of butts are still landing on the ground. We are thinking about handing out pocket axis trays to the smokers. A cigarette stays in the environment super long, which is why we also want to tackle that problem. »
