New research launched ahead of Coca-Cola Clean Coasts Week reveals that 95% of people experience litter on our coastline, but just 15% admit to littering
Thursday, 1 June 2017: Research released by Coca-Cola at the launch of Coca-Cola Clean Coasts Week (2nd – 11th June) revealed that 95% of people across Ireland and Northern Ireland have encountered litter at the island’s coastline, with four in ten people naming litter as the greatest deterrent in visiting the coast. While the majority of respondents have experienced litter on our coastline, just 15% of people admit to having dropped litter themselves.
Coca-Cola Clean Coasts Week aims to educate, and foster pride in our precious coastline, while empowering community groups across the country to get involved in one of the hundreds of coastal clean-ups and events taking place.
Drawing over eight million international visitors to our shores annually, the Irish tourism economy is reported to be worth €7.7 billion[1], with the coastline estimated to contribute €2 billion alone2. While a lot of us have experienced litter while at the beach, as a nation we take a lot of pride in our coastlines. Almost three quarters (73%) of people have celebrated our stunning coastline on social media, with Facebook the most widely used platform followed by Instagram.
To celebrate the world’s love of our coastline Coca-Cola Clean Coasts Week has teamed up with popular Instagram account InstaIreland to showcase the beauty of the island’s coastline over the course of the week.
Speaking at the launch of Coca-Cola Clean Coasts Week, musician, TV presenter and avid surfer Kian Egan said; “Together with Coca-Cola, An Taisce and Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful, I’m delighted to help generate awareness of the importance of protecting our beaches. Ireland has some of the most beautiful coastlines in world and we really don’t realise how lucky we are. As a keen surfer, I see first-hand the benefits of looking after our coasts and unfortunately also the damage that can be done by littering. I’m encouraging everyone to take stock of their own contribution to keeping our beaches clean, and I also want to celebrate the volunteers up and down this island who give a huge amount of their time and energy to protect our coast. Last year during Coca-Cola Clean Coasts Week, more than 10 tonnes of marine litter was removed from the coastline and with a little help, we can make as much of an impact again in 2017.”
The research released today also reveals that a significant number of people are discarding items they do not consider litter. Four in ten people do not consider fruit to be litter as it is biodegradable, however although organic it still takes time to break down and can cause damage to the coast and marine-life. Previous research by Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful shows a lack of knowledge on the consequences of littering and the effect this has on our coastline, which in turn promotes littering3.
Michael John O’Mahony from An Taisce’s Educational Unit said, “Litter and particularly marine litter has a huge long term negative impact on our environment. Coca-Cola Clean Coasts Week aims to demonstrate to everybody the importance of protecting our coasts. Furthermore we want to acknowledge the volunteer work of the hundreds of Clean Coasts groups across the country. We hope this Coca-Cola Clean Coasts Week will be the most successful yet, with something for everyone.
Speaking at this year’s launch Matthieu Seguin, General Manager, Coca-Cola HBC Ireland and Northern Ireland said, “Our investment the Clean Coasts programmes spans 14 years, and we are very proud of our long-standing partnership An Taisce and Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful. As leaders in sustainability, we strive to minimise our impact on the environment and a key element of our efforts is focused on environmental stewardship within communities; encouraging people to act responsibly when it comes to disposing of waste. With Clean Coasts Week 2017, we aim to foster pride in our coastline, while reminding beach-goers of the importance of keeping our coasts litter free.”
Irish artist Daragh Muldowney, speaking on his experience exploring Ireland’s rock pools for his exhibition ‘Jewellery Box – Ireland’s Hidden Gems’, said “I have travelled all over the world and nothing compares to the Irish coastline. People flock from all over the world and draw inspiration from its beauty, so as the residents of Ireland it is up to us to do our part to protect and celebrate that beauty. With our online exhibition in partnership with InstaIreland, I hope we will encourage everyone to be mindful of litter when enjoying the coast.”
There are 26,000 volunteers, over 700 volunteer groups and 300 events already planned for Coca-Cola Clean Coasts Week. There are many ways to get involved, from taking personal litter home to helping out at a local beach clean event, or becoming more informed at one of the many educational events held around the country. Information of key events can be found on www.cleancoasts.org and www.liveherelovehere.org .
Join the conversation #CleanCoasts
On Instagram: @InstaIreland @CleanCoasts @LiveHere.LoveHere
On Twitter: @CleanCoasts @isupportlhlh
On Facebook: CleanCoasts | KeepNorthernIrelandBeautiful
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For further information, please contact Eimhear Breen, Edelman:
Email: eimhear.breen@edelman.com
Phone: 01 678 9333 / 087 098 7893
Notes to Editor
Research
Research conducted by Ignite research – 19/05/2017 – 25/05/2017
1,200 adults 18+ (1,000 in the Republic of Ireland and 200 in Northern Ireland)
References
- Fáilte Ireland tourism facts 2015 – http://www.failteireland.ie/Research-Insights/National/Failte-Ireland-preliminary-tourism-facts-2015-(pdf.aspx
- http://www.failteireland.ie/Utility/News-Library/Growing-tourism-in-marine-and-coastal-areas.aspx
- ‘Qualitative Research into Littering Attitudes and Behaviours’ report by Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful, July 2016
About Coca-Cola in Ireland
The Coca-Cola Company, together with bottling partners Coca-Cola HBC Ireland and Northern Ireland manufactures, distributes and responsibly markets a full range of beverages, including 20 brands and 49 different products that are sold in thousands of retail outlets across the country.
The Coca-Cola Company is responsible for creating demand through consumer marketing and brand development and Coca-Cola HBC as bottling partner manufactures, sells and distributes products to more than 9,000 outlets across the island of Ireland. Together, the Coca-Cola system employs 1,750 people across the island of Ireland.
Our products range from Coca-Cola, Coca-Cola Zero Sugar and Diet Coke through to Sprite, Fanta, Powerade, Oasis, Schweppes, Fruice and Deep RiverRock. 97% of everything that we sell across the island of Ireland is manufactured from our plant in Knockmore Hill, Lisburn, Co. Antrim.
About An Taisce – Environmental Education Unit
An Taisce is the National Trust for Ireland working to preserve and protect Ireland’s natural and built heritage.The Environmental Education Unit is responsible for developing and operating some of Ireland’s most popular and successful environmental and sustainability programmes. It is the National Operator for all international environmental education programmes of FEE (Foundation for Environmental Education), including the Blue Flag Award for Beaches and Marinas and Green-Schools, the international environmental education programme in operation across 93% of Irish schools.
The Environmental Education Unit also operates a number of national programmes including: Green Campus, Neat Streets, National Spring Clean (Ireland’s largest anti-litter campaign), Green Home, Green Communities, and the Irish Greening Community Award Programme.
Our products range from Coca-Cola, Coca-Cola Zero Sugar and Diet Coke through to Sprite, Fanta, Powerade, Oasis, Schweppes, Fruice and Deep RiverRock. 97% of everything that we sell across the island of Ireland is manufactured from our plant in Knockmore Hill, Lisburn, Co. Antrim.
About Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful and Live Here Love Here
Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful remains the province’s leading authority on litter issues, and provides a unique service to communities, businesses, councils and schools throughout Northern Ireland. Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful runs Live Here Love Here, the Northern Ireland Borough Cleanliness Survey, Live Here Love Here Green Business Award, Eco-Schools, the Blue Flag, Seaside Awards and Clean Coast Programme, the Green Flag Award for parks and open spaces and Adopt A Spot.
The charity also runs the BIG Spring Clean (now part of Live Here Love Here), the largest volunteer clean-up campaign in Northern Ireland, which involved over 107,000 volunteers in 2016.
Live Here Love Here, is a national campaign aimed at promoting civic pride and a community can-do attitude by improving environmental quality in Northern Ireland. Tackling issues such as littering, dog fouling and dilapidation, this campaign encourages volunteers to take practical action in their local communities. Live Here Love Here is an inspiring partnership between the Department of Agriculture Environment and Rural Affairs; Tourism Northern Ireland; Northern Ireland Housing Executive; Choice Housing; Coca-Cola, McDonald’s and local councils, working alongside Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful.