There are 25 registered clean-ups happening this weekend in Co. Donegal as part of Clean Coasts’ Big Beach Clean, to remove marine litter and join a worldwide citizen science project.
The Big Beach Clean is happening this September 16th to 18th.
The Big Beach Clean is an annual call to action as part of the International Coastal Cleanup (ICC), operated internationally by Ocean Conservancy.
This year, the Big Beach Clean is sponsored again by Irish business Cully and Sully.
The Big Beach Clean invites communities and volunteers around the country to remove litter from around the Irish coast after the end of the bathing season.
This initiative is also an opportunity for volunteers to get involved in a worldwide citizen science project, which entails collecting the amount and types of litter on Irish beaches and filling in Clean Coasts’ Marine Litter Data Cards.
This will help heighten awareness about the issue of marine litter serving as an indicator of the magnitude of the problem and help shape future policies and campaigns.
In 2021, there were over 400 clean-ups organised in Ireland with volunteers removing 42 tonnes of marine litter.
Since the first International Coastal Cleanup in 1986, over 17 million volunteers have joined local clean-up efforts big and small to remove 158 million kilograms of trash from beaches and waterways around the globe, all while logging each item and building the world’s largest database on marine debris.
Data collected from the International Coastal Cleanup have informed policy in a number of areas leading to laws banning the use of plastic grocery bags, prohibiting smoking-related litter, encouraging the use of reusable bags, prohibiting mass balloon releases and prohibiting foam food and beverage takeaway containers.
For this reason, Clean Coasts is delighted to be part of this global movement and want to thank all the volunteers in Ireland who have already registered to dedicate their time to this cause.
People still wishing to join can do so by visiting the Clean Coasts website and check out the map of clean-up happening in their area.
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