UKC

Black Diamond Clean Up Fontainebleau

© Black Diamond
Over Easter Black Diamond was in Fontainebleau and passed out compostable plastic bags. The climbers helped clear 250kg of rubbish from the large bouldering areas with great success.

Over the Easter holidays Fontainebleau is always crowded with climbers, hikers and Easter holidaymakers. Black Diamond felt this was the perfect opportunity to raise awareness amongst people who enjoy natural environments. There is lots of rubbish in the forests around Fontainebleau, rubbish which has been carelessly tossed away.

During the Easter holidays Black Diamond parked their bus in the parking lot at Fontainebleau, at Bas Cuvier, Cul de Chien and Isatis. Their objective was to motivate climbers to participate in the clean-up campaign and raise their awareness with respect to bouldering areas. Using flip charts and striking up conversations, Christian Lehmann, Business Unit Manager Climb and boulderer and Black Diamond athlete Nalle Hukkataival, explained their idea to the people they met and the people marched off with the compostable plastic bags and collected rubbish together.

Some of the rubbish was really nasty, the kind that could only be picked up using gloves and tongs. However, the initiative was not just about filth, but rather also about each and every individual's behaviour on the rocks: clean climbing boots thoroughly, because dirty climbing shoes polish the rocks. Don't leave any tick marks and always clean the grips so that they don't become sticky with magnesium.

“Bas Cuvier is clearly much cleaner than prior to the cleanup campaign. I have never seen the area so clean,” said Nalle.

The evening following the bouldering and clean-up session the busy climbers met for a beer back at the Black Diamond Bus at the parking lot, turned in their bags of rubbish and chatted, engaged in discussions, exchanged opinions. “The people felt at ease and wanted to spend more time with us. It was an awesome meeting place after a day on the rocks,” said Christian Lehmann.

During the 3 day campaign, over 250 kg of rubbish was collected, which was then delivered to the regional Forestry Commission Office for disposal. The forest rangers were excited about the fact that this was initiated by the climbers. We would like to express our gratitude to the numerous climbers who assisted us in cleaning the areas. The clean-up campaign was a successful event and is mentioned in the blogs and social media.

Check out Nalle's journal entry and video here.

Chasing The Rubbish In Fontainebleau #2  © Black Diamond
Chasing The Rubbish In Fontainebleau #3  © Black Diamond

For more information Black Diamond/Clean Up Font



7 May, 2012
Excellent effort!
7 May, 2012
good effort, always great to here and raise awareness!!
21 May, 2012
Have to say that Fontainebleau looked very clean and tidy last weekend. We even saw a local picking up litter between showing-off on hard problems.
21 May, 2012
I wonder how many kilos were used condoms...

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