Twenty-seven tonnes of marine litter removed during Clean Coasts Week
Twenty-seven tonnes of marine litter was removed from Irish beaches and coastlines during the Coca-Cola Clean Coasts Week 2019, which ran from June 1 to 9.
Coastal communities around the island of Ireland hosted beach clean-ups and celebrated the Irish coastline with fun activities based around the water, all of which aimed to get people more engaged with the coast.
In the Republic of Ireland alone, 189 registered clean-ups took place, with 3,591 volunteers taking part in the initiative, up from 2,908 in 2018. A monumental 22 tonnes of marine litter was removed from Irish shores by volunteers over nine days - four tonnes more than the previous year.
Ten events were organised in Mayo, with 242 volunteers getting involved.
In Northern Ireland, 65 events took place to clean and appreciate the shorelines. During the week, 1,859 volunteers got involved and filled a towering number of 931 litter bags, which equates to over five tonnes of waste.
The Coca-Cola Clean Coasts Week encourages the whole country to protect and celebrate Ireland’s coastline, hosting events all over Ireland with the help of some community spirit. The aim is to engage and empower people and communities to protect our precious coastal resources and appreciate everything the coastline has to offer.
Events included free beach yoga classes, poc fada, kayaking, seaweed workshops and plogging (the Scandinavian trend of picking up litter while jogging), to just name a few.
Michael John O’Mahony, director of environmental education at An Taisce, said this year's Clean Coasts Week has been one of our most successful yet.
“The week saw entire communities coming together to have fun and work together in taking care of their local beaches and coastlines,” he added. “Everyone was motivated to help prevent the long-term negative impact of marine litter, taking pride in looking after the scenic shorelines in their area.
“I would like to extend my thanks to everyone who got involved, and particularly give recognition to the dedicated volunteers who work hard all year round in protecting and preserving Ireland’s coasts.”