Media Contact: Sinead McCoy
Telephone: 087 1347950
Email:smccoy@eeu.antaisce.org
Clean Coasts’ Big Beach Clean 2017
Join the world’s largest coastal cleanup
@CleanCoasts#BigBeachClean
Clean Coasts Big Beach Clean weekend will take place on the 15th, 16th and 17th of September 2017. We are delighted to team up again with the International Ocean Conservancy for the International Coastal Cleanup event. In 2016, over half a million volunteers in 112 countries removed 8 million kg of marine litter from the world’s oceans.
Clean Coasts are inviting volunteers to join this global coastal movement for litter free seas and be part of the world’s largest coastal cleanup and marine litter survey. Removing marine litter from our beautiful coastline helps protect our coastal habitats and marine life.
Last year 120 cleanups took place in Ireland during the Big Beach Clean weekend. This year we are on course to surpass that total.
Join the movement for litter free seas and register a cleanup for the Big Beach Clean weekend www.cleancoasts.org . Volunteers receive a free clean up kit containing bags, gloves, health and safety information, data cards and hi-vis vests.
During the Big Beach Clean, Clean Coasts volunteers are also asked to carry out marine litter surveys to quantify the amount and types of litter on Irish beaches. These surveys are aimed at heightening awareness about the issue of marine litter and serve as an indicator of the magnitude of the problem.
Speaking about the Big Beach Clean, Sinead McCoy, Clean Coasts National Manager
said, “We are so lucky in Ireland to have such spectacular sandy beaches and rocky shores but each year millions of tonnes of litter enter our seas and oceans causing environmental, economic, health and aesthetic challenges. We all have a responsibility in caring for our coastline so the Clean Coasts programme is inviting volunteers to join this global coastal clean-up helping remove marine litter from our beautiful coastline and aid in the protection of our coastal habitats and marine life”.
Notes to the Editor:
Clean Coasts
Clean Coasts engages communities in the protection of Ireland’s beaches, seas and marine life. The programme is operated by the Environmental Education Unit of An Taisce and is currently funded by the Department of the Housing, Planning and Local Government, and Fáilte Ireland.
Clean Coasts is made up of two elements; Clean Coasts volunteering and the Green Coast Award. The Green Coast Award is an award for beaches that meet the excellent standard for water quality as set out in the revised Bathing Water Directive (EC 2006/7/EC) but may not have the necessary built infrastructure to achieve Blue Flag status. An important element of this award is that these beaches have a beach management plan in place and that the local community are engaged in this process.
The Clean Coasts volunteering effort engages communities in the protection and conservation of their local coastal environment. There are currently over 500 registered Clean Coasts groups. There are a variety of group types such as community groups, residents associations, tidy towns groups, sports clubs, schools, businesses, universities etc. Clean Coasts organises hundreds of beach clean-ups annually mobilising thousands of volunteers, removing considerable quantities of marine litter from Ireland’s beaches and waterways.
The Marine Litter we find
During Clean Coasts Week in May and The Big Beach Clean in September Clean Coasts volunteers carry out marine litter surveys to quantify the abundance and types of marine litter on Irish beaches. These surveys are aimed at heightening awareness about the issue of marine litter and serve as an indicator of the magnitude of the problem.
We have found that plastic bottle caps tend to be the number one culprit. Plastic bottles, aluminium drinks cans and cigarette butts tend to be amongst the highest ranking litter items found. Other common items generally in the top ten include food packaging, sweet wrappers and fishing litter such as rope and string and sewage related debris/litter such as baby wipes and cotton bud sticks are also often in the top ten litter items found on Ireland’s beaches. We do also find some unusual items like a shopping trolley handle, a computer keyboard, shoes and even a steering wheel!