Each year I participate in the Lions Environmental local cleanup. This year it took place in the Park La Charmille, Poissy. On making my way to the meeting point, I chose to walk through the park and was pleasantly surprised to see clean sacks in the rubbish bins and no evidence of litter.
I thus chose to make my way to the Route de Poissy (D308) and head back to the park surveying the verge alongside the road leaving Poissy.
I was saddened to see, but picked up, a vast quantity of bottles (glass and plastic), food wrappers and surgical masks .. all jetisonned from passing vehicles. In fact, the quantity of litter had become so heavy just prior to the railway crossing that I determined to forge my way back through the forest to the park.
It was to my relief that I encountered an isolated residence in which three children were playing in the garden. I called out to request directions and was relieved to be greeted at the gate by the owner and the three youngsters. Having explained by predicament, I was offered a glass of water and the loan of a wheelbarrow as well as the proposal to deposit the rubbish in his commercial bin thus eleminating the need to transport itfurther. He also suggested that a photograph would give clear evidence of the result of a Lion’s efforts to aid the environment.
I accepted the latter solution and was then accompanied by him and his children, to indicate the forest path I may take to rejoin the park.
An unexpected and generous act of kindness in return for the effort of Lions to provide a better environment for our planet and hence for future generations.
