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Hi Clean Coasts group
 

November has been a very busy month for Clean Coasts: lots of event s have been taking place and all hands are on deck to organise our end of the year event, the Clean Coast Ocean Hero Awards. 

As always, we have loved reading throughout the months stories from volunteers around the country that despite the cold weather have been working to keep our coast clean and beautiful. 

We also worked on a special art project involving…toilets! 

Are you curious to learn more and see what’s coming next? Keep reading!

 

Ocean Hero Awards – Meet the Nominees

In November, we have announced the nominees of the Clean Coasts Ocean Hero Awards!

The call for Clean Coasts’ Ocean Hero Awards nominations closed on 11th November and the Clean Coasts team was delighted to see that the efforts of all volunteers that have been working all year to protect our coast and our marine environment have been recognised. 

This year we will be awarding volunteers across 8 different categories. These are the volunteers who were nominated to receive the award:

Volunteer of the Year
Proinsias O’Tuama, Co. Cork
Louise Hastings, Co. Mayo
Mark McCarthy, Co. Cork
Sean Ferguson, Co. Wexford

Group of the Year
Clean Coasts Ballynamona, Co. Cork
The Coastal Warriors, Co. Donegal
Keep Our Beaches Clean, Co. Mayo
Bull Island Action Group, Co. Dublin

Youth Group of the Year
Dungarvan Youthreach, Co. Waterford
National Learning Network, Co. Louth and Co. Meath
St Colman Community School, Co. Cork

Youth Volunteer of the Year
Dean and Natasha O’ Leary, Co. Cork
Thomas Butler, Co. Waterford
 Evan, Alex, Dylan, Co. Kerry

Beach Clean of the Year
Kerry Islamic Outreach Clean Up, Co. Kerry
Maharees Conservation, Co. Kerry
Seastainability and Pickers Pal, Co. Dublin

Business of the Year
Dell EMC, Co. Cork
Island Viewing Riding Stables, Co. Sligo
Galway Atlantaquaria, Co. Galway

Think Before You Flush Community of the Year (supported by Irish Water)
Bundoran Tourist Office, Co. Donegal
Belmullet Tidy Towns, Co. Mayo
Blackrock Tidy Towns, Co. Dublin

Fishing Community of the Year (supported by BIM)
Clew Bay CLAMS group, Co. Mayo
Kilmore Quay Fishing Community, Co. Wexford 
Irish South and West Production. Co. Cork

Nominees will be awarded the title of Clean Coasts Ocean Hero across the different categories on 3rd December in Dublin. 

For more info about these incredible volunteer groups and individuals visit our website.
 

Learn more about the nominees
 

Why did we take part in World Toilet Day?

While this day is not widely know it is celebrated annually to inspire action to tackle the global sanitation crisis and move towards achieving Sustainable Development Goal 6, which promises sanitation for all by 2030. That’s not too far away so we need to get moving.

In Ireland people often giggle when we mentioned World Toilet Day, after all there is a toilet around every corner. However with great power comes great responsibility.  Since we have such great access to toilet facilities and don’t fear illnesses related with bad sanitation we must treat those toilets well.

Take me to the website
 

Our Project with NCAD

Clean Coasts, Irish Water and the National College of Art and Design (NCAD) have collaborated for World Toilet Day to mark this special day and the launch of the fourth year of the Think Before You Flush campaign. Students from the National College of Art and Design worked on 4 the toilets as part of a “Design for Debate” project to bring the issues raised by the “Think Before You Flush” campaign to the public’s attention in a creative way. Each toilet highlights a different element of the campaign from the size and scale of the problem of flushing wipes down the toilet to the connection between our bathrooms and the environment.

Read our blog
 

Clean Coasts and Other Voices in Dingle

If you happen to be in Dingle, join us for this event on Saturday, 30th November for this “Our Coasts, Our Voices” event. 

There will be several activities, including indoor games to learn more about our coast, music and a panel discussion. make sure you don’t miss it!

 

In December we will reveal something very exciting…

This month we have been working on a very exciting video project that we will reveal in December. Any idea of what it is? We can’t wait to share it with you at the Ocean Hero Awards Ceremony in a few days. 

Is there any other project you think Clean Coasts should work on going forward?

 

Happy stories from November

On 9th November, we joined forces with Cork Fleischmann Symphony Orchestra for a “Save the Seas” Concert, in Cork. On the night, stunning pictures from the Cork region from our Love Your Competition were displayed too!
 

“On the evening of July 1st, 2018 (in the middle of the heat wave) my mum and I took our three dogs for a walk on Old Head Beach. We were disgusted to find the beach completely littered, we were ill prepared and sickened, we abandoned our walk”
To learn about how a Clean Coasts Group is born read one of our latest blog posts. 
Read their story
 

On 16th November, our Clean Coasts officers Aine and Richard held some workshops on marine litter & climate change and sea Level rising as part of the “Lets Talk Science” event next weekend. 
 

On 12th November, we visited the spectacular PLASTIC exhibition at the Science Gallery, in Dublin, where we saw incredible alternatives to plastic, such as a fishing net made of hair and the “plastic warning” sign in the picture on the right. 
 

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. 

Check out our blog stories