Clément Bargain 09h22, March 16, 2023

The strike of Parisian garbage collectors continues and the 8,000 tons of rubbish in the streets of the capital have highlighted the amount of waste produced by residents every day. However, there are solutions to throw away less packaging: starting with buying in bulk, which is attracting more and more French people.

After more than a week of strike, during which waste has piled up on the sidewalks of the capital, garbage collectors are targeted by a request for requisition. The prefect of police of Paris announced Wednesday evening. Anne Hidalgo, the mayor of Paris, did not want to hear about it but garbage collectors should resume work this Thursday to clean the streets of the capital. Requisitions justified by reasons of public health and sanitation while nearly 8,000 tons of garbage have piled up in the streets of Paris. It must be said that a Frenchman produces almost a kilo and a half of waste per day.

Bulk purchase

Trash bins accumulate quickly but this strike may also be an opportunity to learn about zero waste, which has become a way of life for some. Seeds and starchy foods stored in glass jars, laundry detergent and soap stored in reusable containers. Gabrielle is one of those who hunt for packaging. "I try to buy as many things as possible in bulk. It's also satisfying to say that we consumed no plastic with our consumption of the week, "she admits.

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With a mini-bin, Hervé and Teddy do not participate in the pollution of the streets either. "We also started making yogurt and bread, so it's true that we reduce, we reduce, we reduce," explains the first. "The sorting bin has decreased by three quarters," adds the second.

"This strike of garbage collectors clearly highlights the uselessness of all this waste"

Zero waste enthusiasts who shop in this grocery store where all products are sold without packaging. "This garbage collectors' strike clearly highlights the uselessness of all this waste. Here, you can fill your own containers, or you work with the deposit," says Jennifer, the co-founder of Les Glaneuses, in Paris. "You consume the product that is in the container that we buy, you bring it back to us, we give you a piece and then we send the container back to the producer, he cleans it and he reuses it." A practice still little developed.

In ten years, the France has failed to reduce its amount of waste. A decrease of only 0.9% compared to 2010, when the target was -10%.