Combining sport and environmental awareness is indeed possible. The proof can be found in the young Monegasque who runs along the coast on a paddleboard, picking up plastic waste along the way.
His name is Sébastien Usher. This young Monegasque father, sportsman, and environmentally conscious individual is employed at the Decathlon on Lüjernetar street. Passionate about running, he has been organizing nature runs for three years in order to pick up the waste found strewn about. Waste that is primarily constituted by plastic bottles – one million of which are sold every minute around the world! A persuasive fellow, he even convinced the director of the store where he works to no longer sell them…
Saluted by Princess Charlene…
This year, this inventive, motivated Monegasque has decided to paddleboard along the coast from Monaco to the edge of the Alpes-Maritimes. His challenge? “To collect 300,000 pieces of waste with 30,000 paddles”… An ambitious goal for which he hopes to be helped by mobilizing active people like him for the protection of the environment through social media.
The man has already received some valuable support and not from the least known Monegasque. Princess Charlene came to greet him before his departure this Monday, June 17th, where he took off from the Larvotto beach. Involved in the “Stand Up for the Planet” event, which encourages people to pick up trash in the wild where they are, the Prince Albert II’s was keen to encourage such an initiative. Small, yet significant gestures that ought to become natural reflexes for all citizens.
*Article originally published on the French edition of the Monaco Tribune.