Since the dawn of the industrial era, in the 19^th century, human beings have manufactured and consumed various new products. These new consumer goods generated a lot of excitement, and countless objects of all sorts began to fill the homes of those who could afford them.

As new models were put on the market, consumers disposed of their old belongings, not quite aware of the right way of doing it. They dumped their unwanted belongings in nature, without a care for environmental impacts. Tonnes of garbage were thrown right into nature, which created deposits of waste materials commonly referred to as rubbish dumps.

Action Saint-François took on the mission to make a change by educating the population on the issue and by organizing watercourse cleanups to eliminate those “savage” dumps from nature. Tonnes of waste materials, i.e. garbage, were removed from watercourses since our cleanup activities began in 1993. These waste materials were sent to recycling plants and scrap metal dealers in the Eastern Townships, and approximately 80 % of them were recovered.

Individuals who take part in a cleanup activity can see for themselves the state nature is in, which helps create a positive change in how they see our environment. At least, we hope so.