During the St. Patrick’s Bank Holiday Weekend, Tomhaggard Clean Coasts group hosted a very successful clean-up in their local area as part of the Spring Clean 2023 campaign. The event recorded a great turnout, with the group welcoming new members who signed up at the Clean Coasts Roadshow event hosted in Kilmore Quay earlier this March.
Volunteers tackled a very ‘difficult to reach’ section of the Ballyteigue Burrow in Kilmore Quay. This involved carpooling people down an off-road lane known locally as Furlongs Road. Overall, the group collected over 30 bags of litter weighing 220kg.
Furthermore, the group are trialing separating glass and lobster pots to reduce the amount of waste sent to landfill. This amounted to a reduction of 12% approximately (15kg of glass and 1 pot – 12kg). This initiative is in line with this year’s National Spring Clean focus, who have been trying to raise awareness about how the adoption of a circular economy model, will reduce our litter, and climate impact. The circular economy is a waste prevention approach to keep resources in use for as long as possible, enabling us to extract the maximum value from them before recovery and regeneration. This is based on three principles: eliminating waste and pollution, keeping materials and products in use (through re-use and recycling), and protecting nature. This means that as we transition to a more circular economy, we’ll see less waste, less litter, and lower emissions, and thus, cleaner planet.
These principles of a circular economy have been central to the ethos of National Spring Clean for the past 24 years. Last year some 35% of all waste collected was recycled, thanks to recyclable waste bags provided to groups and individuals who register, while the removal of litter from our natural environment has helped tackle biodiversity loss.
Throughout this year’s campaign, National Spring Clean also hopes people will consider their waste output and moderate consumption behaviours that produce excess waste, and look at alternatives that will move us away from a throwaway culture to a more sustainable circular culture.
Tomhaggard Clean Coasts group has a second National Spring Clean event scheduled for Easter Monday – 10th of April at 6.30pm, when they hope to return to the same section of beach as a lot of work remains to be done there.
Registrations are still open, and it is not too late for communities in County Wexford to sign up to the National Spring Clean and make a global difference through local actions. To register to be part of Ireland’s largest anti-litter campaign, people can visit http://www.nationalspringclean.org
