Modou’s motivation is to make Africa a model continent where life is good and Africans are in harmony with nature. His speciality: fighting plastic pollution in our living environments. In the country as well as on the coast, plastic waste welcomes us and travels with us every step of the way. Plastic is everywhere! The oceans are infested with microplastics, animals consume them, fish eat them and they end up in our food chain. At the same time, plastic waste decorates our streets, clogs our drains and intensifies flooding during the rainy season.
Faced with this environmental scourge, “Plastic Man” fights every day to ensure that the use of plastic is finally banned. He is a pioneer in the fight against the plastic peril in Senegal.
His outfit, a mixture of all types of plastic, is the visible sign of his struggle. The originality of this outfit lies in its composition of coffee cups, single-use sachets, beverage bottles and all other forms of plastic.
The plastic man, an outstanding educator
Despite the constraints and threats posed by the plastics industry, Modou spares no effort to raise awareness of the dangers of plastic. He makes young and old aware of the harmful effects of plastic on our health and well-being.
Modou Fall has criss-crossed every region of Senegal to raise awareness and denounce the peril of plastic. This initiative has enabled him to meet students in several schools. He uses his talents to convince these adults of tomorrow of the danger threatening their environment and their future.
Modou Fall sows the seeds of good will on social networks, beaches, schools, radio stations and TV studios, among the public, local elected representatives and authorities, to raise awareness and raise his voice in defense of our planet.
With his initiative called “Tolou Keur” in Wolof, which means family garden, an agricultural project exploiting the Gounass retention basin in Guédiawaye, Modou Fall has added yet another arrow to his bow. He has set himself apart by ensuring that this area, which serves as a school and local market for the people of Guédiawaye, is not polluted. All his actions and initiatives earned him a place in the National Order of Lion on July 15, 2016 by the Head of State, President Macky Sall.
Despite the adoption of the law banning certain single-use or disposable plastic products, plastic continues to litter our streets and alleys. Modou has consistently called for the enactment of a decree implementing this law and a binding global treaty against plastic pollution. In recent years, the “plastic man” has been relentless. He continues to campaign for the signing of the decree implementing the plastics law.
Every chance he gets, he reminds the African environment ministers he meets. On the sidelines of World Environment Day 2023, celebrated in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, under the theme of combating plastic pollution, he was the star attraction of this global gathering.
Plastic man’s plea to Mr Jean-Luc ASSI, Côte d’Ivoire’s Minister for the Environment and Sustainable Development, and the head of UN Environment
Philippe Ahodekon
Greenpeace Africa Advocacy Officer