Clare County Council, in association with An Taisce, is urging people to spring into action and get involved in cleaning up the county as part of the annual National Spring Clean campaign.
Tidy Towns groups, businesses, schools, community development groups and residents’ associations are being invited to come together during the month of April to undertake to clean up their local areas.
In 2021, 5,548 groups registered to carry out clean-ups throughout the country and volunteers who participated in the Spring Clean 2021 collected an estimated 2,800 tonnes of litter. Last year, 160 local community groups in Clare participated in clean-ups.
Karen Foley, Environmental Awareness Officer with Clare County Council, explains that “while the core objective of this campaign is to encourage clean-ups throughout the whole month of April, this campaign also promotes the importance of personal responsibility when it comes to litter. During community clean-ups, voluntary groups from across the county can see first-hand the impact of littering of single use items such as cigarette butts, coffee/tea cups, plastic bottles, cans, wrappings, etc.”
“We are delighted to announce that as part of this year’s National Spring Clean campaign Clare County Council is organising a series of online events for community groups, businesses, schools as well as interested individuals. On 31st March at 7:00pm, groups can attend a webinar on the ‘Introduction to Leave No Trace’. This is followed by a webinar by Sorcha Kavanagh from the Conscious Cup Campaign on 12th April at 4:00pm and an online ‘Litter Management’ workshop by Aoife Munn on 25th April at 7:00pm. If you are interested in one or all of these webinars, please email greenerclare@clarecoco.ie for more details,” Ms Foley added.
The Environment Section of Clare County Council is also assisting groups who register for the National Spring Clean campaign by providing them with a free pass to one of the Council’s Waste Transfer Facilities at Scariff and Lisdeen and the Central Waste Management Facility in Inagh. Groups are reminded that while waste from public area clean-ups will be accepted with this pass, private household waste will not. Details will be issued to groups who must first register on www.nationalspringclean.org.
Thank you to @clare_whyte who shared photos of @ClaregalwayColl's #SpringClean22 clean up in #Galway! We love seeing students in Ireland doing a Spring Clean so if you're a teacher and you want your school to be involved head to our website: https://t.co/Ds2e4KKrYO #SDGsIrl pic.twitter.com/feafmHuGyd
— NationalSpringClean (@NationalSpringC) March 29, 2022
Participating groups are also being reminded to separate recyclables during clean-ups.
Once registered, An Taisce will issue groups/individuals with a free clean-up kit which includes colour-coded refuse sacks for segregation of waste materials, protective gloves and hi-vis vests to keep participants safe. Clare County Council will also assist groups that require any additional recycling or general waste bags, gloves and hi-vis vests.
For more information on the National Spring Clean campaign visit www.nationalspringclean.org or contact the Environment Section, Clare County Council, at enviroff@clarecoco.ie or 065-6846331.