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Hi Clean Coasts group
 

July is over and we are half way through the summer,  one of the busiest periods for Clean Coasts.

In July, the whole team was busy with #PlasticFreeJuly, but we have also launched our Love Your Coast competition, which is now at its tenth anniversary. So many clean-ups and events have been taking place and many more will be announced in August, so 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. 

 

#LoveYourCoast Turns 10

Ireland has some of the most spectacular and diverse coastlines in the world. Now in its 10th year, Clean Coasts’ Love Your Coast Photography Competition is all about capturing the essence of the Irish coast – its extensive beauty and diverse character. Clean Coasts works with communities on the ground to help foster pride in our coastline and we look forward to seeing this reflected in the entries. 
 
On 2nd July, we held  a ‘Love Your Coast Photography Workshop‘, to mark the launch of the competition and to celebrate this important anniversary. Now we are inviting you to enter the competition by the 31st August.

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:

  1. Coastal Heritage
  2. Coastal Landscape
  3. People and the Coast
  4. Wildlife and the Coast
  5. Underwater

Enter now!

 

 

#PlasticFreeJuly – Clean Coasts Takes the Challenge

Plastic Free July is a global movement led by the Plastic Free Foundation that was born in 2011 and each year it encourages people to be part of the solution to plastic pollution, in order to have cleaner streets, oceans, and beautiful communities.

The Clean Coasts team decided to take this challenge and share with our social media followers all the lessons we have learnt from it. 

Keep reading
 

Big Beach Clean – Keep an eye on our website!

Registrations for the Big Beach Clean will open soon so keep an eye on our website if you don’t want to miss an opportunity to get involved and protect our beautiful coastline. There will be new exciting news this year, so stay tuned!

In the meantime, why not take a look at what we achieved last year? Click on the link below.

Read more
 

Want to Join the Team?

The Environmental Education Unit of An Taisce is currently looking for one Education Unit Officer to work on the Clean Coasts Wicklow/Wexford area. The post is a maternity cover position for an initial period of 6 months, with a possibility of extension. 

Find out more about the position and how to apply by click on the button below. Closing date: 12th August. 

Apply here
 

Happy stories from July

Our followers really loved this sign that some Clean Coasts volunteers put up in Carrickfinn, and so did we!
This is a suggestion everybody should follow. 
 

These are Tara ( age 3), Ruby (age 4) and Finn (age 6) and last week they did a beach clean at Dooega Shore. Aren’t these young people so inspiring?! 
 

Three Dubliners break world record after swimming North Channel from Down to Scotland in 9 hours and 20 minutes, breaking the previous record by 38 minutes. They did it to raise awareness of how to keep the sea clean for the fish and those who swim there!
 

“Come do a beach clean, it’s good for the head and the heart!” Read about why Sally, from East Cork, loves spending her time beach cleaning. 
Read more
 

Blue Flag and Green Coast Awards

In May, the International Blue Flag and Green Coast Award recipients for 2019 were announced. 

The Blue Flag is one of the world’s most recognised eco-labels, it seeks to raise environmental awareness and promote sound environmental management of beaches, marinas and eco-tourism boats around the world. The Green Coasts Award recognises beaches for their clean environment, excellent water quality and natural beauty. It is necessary for awarded sites to be managed by Local Authorities in partnership with local Clean Coasts groups.

Click below to see the list of sites that received these prestigious awards.

Read more!
 

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.