Twenty-four registered coastal clean-ups in Mayo this weekend

There are 24 registered clean-ups happening this weekend in Co. Mayo as part of Clean Coasts’ Big Beach Clean to remove marine litter and join a worldwide citizen science project.

The Big Beach Clean is happening this September 16 to 18 (Friday to Sunday), with volunteers in Mayo and throughout the country ready to make a difference for the marine environment.

The Big Beach Clean is an annual call to action as part of the International Coastal Cleanup (ICC), operated internationally by Ocean Conservancy.

This year, the Big Beach Clean is sponsored again by Irish business Cully & Sully, who are joining Clean Coasts to host a flagship event in Ardnahinch, Co. Cork, on Saturday (September 17).

The Big Beach Clean 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.

In 2021, over 400 clean-ups being organised in Ireland, with volunteers removing 42 tonnes of marine litter.

Since the first International Coastal Cleanup in 1986, over 17 million volunteers have joined local clean-up efforts, big and small, to remove 158 million kilograms of trash from beaches and waterways around the globe, all the while logging each item and building the world’s largest database on marine debris.

Data collected from the International Coastal Cleanup have informed policy in a number of areas, leading to laws banning the use of plastic grocery bags, prohibiting smoking-related litter, encouraging the use of reusable bags, prohibiting mass balloon releases, and prohibiting foam food and beverage takeaway containers.

Clean Coasts is delighted to be part of this global movement and thanks all the volunteers in Ireland who have already registered to dedicate their time to this cause.

People still wishing to join can do so by visiting the Clean Coasts website and checking out the map of clean-ups happening in their area.