A mountain in transition

Since 2016, over1,000 beneficiaries, in school, out-of-school, integration and vocational training settings, with audiences as diverse as youth, families, adults in professional situations, young people and adults in custody, disabled or otherwise, have been able to discover the mountains and their exceptional environment.
Long-term, these projects mix indoor activities, day trips, and itinerant stays, with nights in refuges, under the stars, under tarpaulins, in trees or simply in tents. And encounters with those who live from the mountains, in the mountains.

While we're taking these audiences out into nature, environmental issues also continue to gain momentum: climate disruption is more topical than ever, with summers of flooding, drought, forest fires and storms, and the loss of biodiversity continuing to accelerate. There's no shortage of challenges for those who intend to help solve the ecological crisis and commit to eco-citizenship. 

 

Nature, the mountains, and their environmental and cultural heritage, are for us tools/means that have as their purpose:  the living-together,  eco-citizenship,  "eco-empowerment".
Ambitious objectives, which play above all a role of aiming, of azimuth, of direction to follow, without however defining precisely the path to follow. 
Thank you again for your support which brings these projects to life! 

𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟒 🎇 The first step on our path to a Zero Waste Mountain in 2030.
𝟒 𝟔𝟖𝟓 👨‍👩‍👧 participants (local authorities, volunteers, economic players...) We are delighted to have shared these moments of commitment together!
𝟖𝟎 ⛰️ pick-ups organized this year (60% of which were autonomously organized by the destinations, well done!)
𝟓𝟖 𝟕𝟕𝟔 🚬 cigarette butts collected (the waste star we can't seem to dethrone)
𝟏𝟖 tons of litter found (that's a lot to bear...)
𝟒𝟗 📜 signatory structures of the Zero Waste Mountain charter
𝟐𝟎𝟑𝟎 📅 the year to achieve a Zero Waste
𝟎 ❌ is the amount of waste we'd like to collect (it's our favorite number)

The full balance sheet, with all the figures and the comparison with last year, will be in a few months. Many more "Adopt'1 Spots" are planned for the autumn.

Thank you all again for your vital support in this wonderful adventure! We'll keep you posted on the next steps. 🙏 

News for our Captains! As you know, the mountains are a fragile ecosystem that we strive to preserve. However, despite its magnificent landscapes that we love so much, every year tons of litter are abandoned on its slopes. 

As you know, after more than twenty years of pick-ups, 2023 marks a historic moment,with an unprecedented commitment by mountain stakeholders to the ambitious goal of Montagne Zéro Déchet Sauvage by 2030. 

⛰️ Wondering what the first step towards this ambition is? Reduce mountain litter by 10% by 2024. 

With this in mind, we launched our 2024 mountain litter pickup season a few weeks ago. 

🌿 In the space of a few weeks and with the participation of nearly 600 volunteers at 15 pick-ups, we've already collected more than 1.5 tons of rubbish, 42% of which is plastic.
Our road to a rubbish-free mountain by 2030 is still a long one, and we need you all. Many thanks for your support! 

 The mountains are an unspoilt territory, yet every year, tons of litter are collected. Unchecked mountain pollution has an impact on the Planet's aquatic ecosystems and biodiversity. As essential players in the start of the water cycle, La Montagne is committed, with one voice, to achieving zero uncontrolled waste in the mountains by 2030.
This is why we are organizing, on March 21 thefirst National Meetings Mountain Zero Uncontrolled Waste in 2030 in Chambéry.
 👉🏻 On the program: 
- Speeches by experts on wild pollution in the mountains, 
- Feedback from the field on source reduction solutions, 
- 1st assessments and forecasts of the national commitment Montagne Zéro Déchet sauvage en 2030. 
🎯A friendly and constructive day, ambitiously turned towards the future of our mountains! Together for our mountains!

The origins of Mountain Riders can be traced back to litter picks in the mountains. More than 20 years later, the association is still going strong. The theme? Education in ecological transition in the mountains. Garbage pick-ups? We're still doing it! The Montagne Zéro Déchet Sauvage en 2030 project was born of this observation: 20 years on, we're still collecting. 

The ambition is simple: 0 wild waste in our mountains by 2030. This goal is no longer Mountain Riders': on March 16, 2023,many mountain players committed to this objective, through the signing of a charter, and the creation of action plans. What we're aiming for today: reduction at source. If we want to stop collecting, we need to turn off the tap!

Through collection and characterization, through empowerment of territories, thanks to scientific data, with the federation of players and by raising awareness of all, the intention is clear: we need to play it collective!

More and more of you are taking part in our mountain litter pick-up days, and we'd like to thank you!

The 2023 season in a few figures is:

72 pick-ups

55 level 2 characterizations

3,681 volunteers during pick-ups

14,594 tons of waste collected

 

But it's also: new territories in the project, increasingly automatic characterization carried out by local players, more efficient pick-ups and a growing "scientific" database.

See you soon for new collections.

Achieve zero wild waste in the mountains by 2030? It was around this objective that we brought together 100 mountain stakeholders in Grenoble on Thursday, March 16.  That same day, the launch of the national campaign to collect litter in the mountains sounded off and the National Charter "Mountains Zero Wild Waste in 2030" was signed. A beautiful day, a hundred or so participants, round tables, exchanges...

It was around this same concrete, measurable and ambitious objective that all the stakeholders united: 
- Mountain economic players: Atout France, Syndicat National des Moniteurs de Ski Français, Domaines Skiables de France, France Montagnes, Nordic France, Syndicat National des Accompagnateurs en Montagne, Union Nationale des Accompagnateurs en Montagne, Agence Savoie Mont Blanc, Agence des Pyrénées, Union Sports et Cycles, Cluster Montagne ;

- Régions Auvergne Rhône Alpes & Région Sud ;
- Institutional players : Association Nationale des Maires de Stations de Montagne ;
- Many Flocon Vert territories also represented: Font Romeu, Val D'Isère, Tignes, Chamrousse, Valloire, Les Arcs, Megève, Combloux, Morzine-Avoriaz...

Bolstered by this commitment, public and private players intend to make the mountains the only territory free of all wild pollution (cigarette butts, unique catering packaging, waste from commerce, building sites animations events...).

With a view to eliminating litter by 2030, stakeholders are working with Mountain Riders to determine action plans and various deadlines. The year 2023 will be "year 0" for measuring litter pollution, with the aim of achieving zero litter by 2030, with various stages: -10% in 2024, -40% in 2026 and -70% in 2028.

On the same day, Olivia Grégoire, Minister Delegate in charge of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises, Trade, Craft Industry and Tourism, took part in a videoconference to support the approach of this National Charter "Montagne zéro Déchet Sauvage en 2030". In particular, she emphasized "the indispensable, simple but ambitious" objective of the charter. 

Fabrice Panneckouke closed the morning by affirming this necessarycollective ambition, in which the AURA region is fully involved. 

The SUD region is also part of it, and we intend to mobilize all the Regions and Massif Commissariats, as well as the Ministry of Transition!" 

The collective challenge we face here enables us to learn how to do things together in a very concrete way and thus prepare to take on other ambitions for the ecological transition of our mountain territories.