27 tonnes of marine litter was removed from Irish beaches and coastlines during Coca-Cola Clean Coasts Week 2019, which ran from Saturday, 1 June to Sunday, 9 June.
Over the course of the week, 189 registered clean-ups took place in the Republic of Ireland, removing 22 tonnes of waste, with 3,591 volunteers taking part in the initiative.
Last year, up to 2,908 took part to remove some 18 tonnes of marine litter from Irish shores.
In Northern Ireland, 1,859 volunteers filled a towering number of 931 litter bags over 65 events, equating to over 5 tonnes of waste.
Coca-Cola Clean Coasts Week
The move is part of the Coca-Cola Clean Coasts Week campaign, which encourages the country to come together to ‘protect and celebrate Ireland’s beautiful coastline’.
Michael John O’Mahony, director of environmental education at An Taisce said that this year has been one of the campaign’s most successful ones yet.
“The week saw entire communities coming together to have fun and work together in taking care of their local beaches and coastlines,” O’Mahony said.
“Everyone was motivated to help prevent the long term negative impact of marine litter, taking pride in looking after the scenic shorelines in their area.
“I would like to extend my thanks to everyone who got involved, and particularly, to give recognition to the dedicated volunteers who work hard all year round in protecting and preserving Ireland’s coasts,” he concluded.
The soft drinks maker also hosted a series of water-based activities to celebrate the Irish coastline.
Events included free beach yoga classes, poc fada, kayaking, seaweed workshops and plogging (the Scandinavian trend of picking up litter while jogging).
© 2019 Checkout – your source for the latest Irish retail news. Article by Aidan O’Sullivan. Click sign-up to subscribe to Checkout.
