Mayo volunteers urged to register now for the Big Beach Clean
The Big Beach Clean initiative is back, and Clean Coasts, supported by Cully & Sully, are calling people all across Mayo to register to receive clean-up kits and join the world's biggest clean-up.
In 2021, a record number of over 400 clean-ups were organised by volunteers, who removed 42 tonnes of litter across the whole country. This represented a 5% decrease in litter found across Ireland compared to the previous year's campaign, which reflects the incredible work that Irish volunteers do all year round to tackle litter, as well as more conscious behaviours by beach users.
Last year in County Mayo, 250 volunteers organised clean-ups in 15 different locations, removing approximately 1.4 tonnes of litter.
The Big Beach Clean is an annual call to action and this year it will run from September 16 to 18 as part of the International Coastal Cleanup (ICC), operated internationally by Ocean Conservancy. This call to action invites communities and volunteers around the country to remove litter from around the Irish coast after the end of the bathing season. This initiative is also an opportunity for volunteers to get involved in a worldwide citizen science project, which entails collecting the amount and types of litter on Irish beaches and filling in Clean Coasts’ Marine Litter Data Cards. This will help heighten awareness about the issue of marine litter serving as an indicator of the magnitude of the problem and help shape future policies and campaigns.
The 2021 results have been shared with Ocean Conservancy and, in Ireland and regionally in Mayo, they have been used to shape Clean Coasts campaigns designed both for registered groups and the general public, tackling the top 10 offenders, such as cigarette butts, plastic bottles and food packaging.
This year, Clean Coasts are calling not only Clean Coasts groups and people who would traditionally be involved in environmental activities to join. Clean Coasts, with the support of content creators, are asking everybody in the community to get involved and find out more about the benefits of taking part in a beach clean and international citizen science project, which go beyond the environmental aspect of the initiative.
Deric Hartigan (TV presenter), James Kavanagh (presenter and owner of food business Currabinny), Aoife McNamara (fashion designer) and Niamh Maher (travel expert and blogger from Exploring Ireland) are joining Clean Coasts this year to make a difference for the ocean and are hoping to inspire more people to sign up for the Big Beach Clean.
Registration will again be open to all residents of Ireland, no matter how far from the coast they are based. Statistics show that the number one cause of marine litter is litter dropped in towns and cities. Getting involved in the Big Beach Clean is a way for residents of non-coastal counties to help prevent litter entering our waterways and seas by holding a clean-up no matter where they are in the country and tackling the problem at source.
As sea lovers and sustainability supporters, Cully and Sully are joining Clean Coasts again and are very excited to be supporting the Big Beach Clean.
To register, visit the Clean Coasts website at www.cleancoasts.org.