Lowering the impact of visitors’ waste and removing waste bins

Lowering waste

Saint-Honorat

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Until 2019, the island of Saint-Honorat had 54 wastebins spread over the island (no selective sorting), and bringing the waste into the continent is too costly. Therefore, the Abbey decided to remove the outdoors waste bins as part of their management plan.

What is the project?

The presence of waste on the island could have a visual impact on the landscape and olfactory nuisances. The Abbey of Saint-Honorat thus decided to implement various actions to prevent waste from remaining on the island and avoid costly solutions. 

Project: Lowering the impact of visitors’ waste – Saint-Honorat

Place: Saint-Honorat, France

Thematic: Waste

Funding: SMILO

Partners:

Saint-Honorat – Our Lady of Lérins Abbey (France)

What ARE the objectiveS?

  • Decreasing the volume of waste collected on the island (by 46% in 2020)
  • Cleaner island without waste bins
  • Fewer boats needed to bring the waste back to the mainland, therefore reducing the cost and environmental impact of the island’s waste management.
  • Further removal of waste bins on the island of Sainte-Marguerite prevents people, especially pleasure-boaters, from throwing their waste on Sainte-Marguerite, instead of returning to the mainland. 

How?

  • 54 waste bins around the island were removed during the summer of 2019.
  • Visitors have to bring their waste back to the mainland (Cannes).
  • Visitors who need a bag to bring their waste back can ask for a recyclable paper bag at the restaurant on the island or the Abbey’s shop.
  • The community actively informs the visitors and raises awareness of the impact of waste on the island. They carry out regular awareness campaigns.
  • Raising awareness on social media and the Internet.
  • Monks on the island regularly answer visitors’ questions.

POSITIVE IMPACTS

  • Saint-Honorat’s overall successful waste management has been rewarded with the Waste Sectorial Award within the Sustainable Island Label process, created by SMILO
  • The volume of waste collected on the island has dramatically decreased
  • The island is cleaner without waste bins
  • Reducing the cost and environmental impact of the island’s waste management, as well as impacts on the landscapes

 

LINKS OF INTEREST

For more information, please refer to pgs. 14-17:

 

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