Oh they do love to be beside the seaside, all 325 of the Limerick volunteers who are set to join Clean Coasts for the Big Beach Clean this September 15 to 17.
According to Clean Costs, 70 per cent of litter in our ocean comes from land-based activities. Litter from towns and cities can get into our waterways and stream or get caught on the wind and travel out the coast and become marine litter.
The Big Beach Clean is part of the International Coastal Cleanup (ICC) organised by the Ocean Conservancy. It entails an annual call-to-action for individuals, families, and communities to join forces to carry out a clean-up at the end of the bathing season and join a worldwide citizen science project.
Volunteers are set to host a beach clean or join an existing one. In 2022, more than 500 clean-up events were organised, with participants removing an astounding 42 tonnes of litter from Irish coastal areas and inland locations.
The results of the annual survey of coasts and inland waterways by Irish Business Against Litter (IBAL) have recently been released and show that, for the first time since IBAL started its coastal surveys in 2017, no area was classified as a litter blackspot in 2023.
However, Lahinch and Ballybunion, both spots popular with Limerick holidaymakers, were found to have deteriorated and were littered.
For the fist time ever, disposable vapes are being found as part of the litter problem on beaches.
Volunteers will undertake clean-ups either in their local area or in nearby coastal areas. A list of public clean-ups happening as part of the Big Beach Clean can be found on the Clean Coasts’ website.
