August has been a very busy month for us, with plenty of beach clean-ups taking place all around Ireland and so many new initiatives that have been launched. The deadline to enter our ‘Love Your Coast’ competition is fast approaching and we have opened registrations for the Big Beach Clean 2019, with some interesting news this year.
Make sure you keep an eye on our website and follow us on our social media, if you don’t want to miss all the new opportunities to get involved.
Only 5 days left to enter our #LoveYourCoast competition!
There are only 5 days left to enter our’ ‘Love Your Coast’ photography competition, so get your camera out and submit your best shots by Saturday, 31st August, at 5pm.
Prize fund of €5,000 up for grabs across 5 Categories. Get your entries in to be in with a chance of winning.The five categories this year are:
Coastal Heritage
Coastal Landscape
People and the Coast
Wildlife and the Coast
Underwater
Find out more and enter your best shots through the link below!
The end of the bating is season is getting closer and registrations for the Big Beach Clean 2019 are now open again and the initiative will run from 20th to 22nd September.
Last year over 190 beach cleans took place last year as part of our Big Beach Clean, engaging 3,652 volunteers who removed over 32 tonnes of marine litter from our coastline, thanks to our incredible volunteers who made an amazing effort over this week. This year, building on last year’s success, we want to make the Big Beach Clean 2019 the biggest yet!
Register below to receive your FREE beach clean kit before they run out of stock!
Do you want to identify the corporations most responsible for plastic pollution in your area so you can hold them accountable for the unmanageable plastic waste they continue to pump and dump into your city? Do you want corporations to support Zero Waste Cities by investing in alternatives and phasing out single-use?
This year, in addition to submitting their Big Beach Clean data with us, participants are also invited to take part in the Brand Audit 2019, as part of the Break Free from Plastic initiative.
Applications open for Community Environment Action Fund
Applications are now open for Community Environment Action Fund, a scheme to support local environmental projects focusing on climate change and biodiversity.
Minister Bruton said “I have been hugely impressed by the determination among both young and old, that this time we shall take the climate challenge seriously. This is a great opportunity to demonstrate locally what can be done.”
The Community Environment Action Fund, (previously known as the Local Agenda 21 Environmental Partnership Fund or LA21), funds small scale, non-profit environmental projects at local level, that make a significant difference in local communities. Applications are open today and nearly €1million is available to support hundreds of projects in local communities all across Ireland.
Any school, community group or club who wants to take a step to tackle climate change or promote biodiversity should apply before 27th September.
National Heritage Week 2019 run from 17th-25th August, with plenty of events happening across Ireland. We joined Discovery Programme for an amazing beach clean on Ireland’s Eye!
This month Rosemary told us about how she started beach combing at the age of 17 and she could never stop.
Read more about her story below.
Early in August we went to the Donabate-Portrane Summer Festival to talk about our Think Before You Flush Campaign and take part in all the great activites that were organised.
During the first weekend of August we went to the Duncannon Sandsculpting Festival and we had the chance to look at loads of incredible sand sculptures like the one in the picture!
Coastal Projects
Clean Coasts works with businesses throughout Ireland on corporate volunteering days. These businesses support our Clean Coasts grant by ways of a donation for the day. We are hoping to work more closely with Clean Coasts groups in 2019 to support any much needed coastal work that could be completed by our corporate volunteers. The groups vary in size from 10 to 30 and would be delighted to help with any projects that there may be at your adopted beach. Please contact us at cleancoasts@eeu.antaisce.org if you have any suitable projects in mind.
Do you have a coastal story?
The Clean Coasts Blog is a collection of stories that touches on the experience of Clean Coasts staff and the coast. There stories vary from finding fossils on Sligo beaches to their experience of cold water swimming. We would love to hear your stories which will be showcased on our social media platforms and website. If you have a story to share or would like to write a piece on becoming a Clean Coasts group or any other experience you would like to share. please let us know. We are looking for short pieces using your own voice.
