Last Saturday, we cleared the Ruhr meadows in Alstaden, collecting large quantities of waste. We formed teams of two from single households to ensure the campaign complied with COVID-19 regulations. Over the course of the day, 16 young people gathered nearly 30 bags of litter and several car tyres from the natural environment. "It is regrettable that our campaign is even necessary, and that some people apparently still do not understand that waste should not be disposed of in nature. We were particularly pleased with the encouragement from passers-by during the action," said local organiser Max Baum of Elasmocean. "Cigarette butts poison the water and kill fish and micro-organisms. It is alarming that we found hundreds carelessly discarded in the riparian zone."
While we hope that such a campaign will not be necessary again anytime soon, we remain prepared to clear the area again if required.
