Free clean-up kits for land-locked Laois volunteers to stop sea pollution

Laois might be the most landlocked county in Ireland but it does have rivers that could bring litter and pollution to the sea which is why the Irish environmental charity Clean Coast want local people to get on board for a big clean up on World Ocean Day and Clean Coasts 20th anniversary.   

World Ocean Day is celebrated annually on 8 June and, with less than one month to go, Irish environmental charity Clean Coasts are asking volunteers in Laois to sign up to request a free clean-up kit and take action on the day.  

Clean Coasts explained why inland counties like Laois can contribute to helping.

They say statistics show that one of the main causes of marine litter is litter dropped in towns and cities, which makes its way to our coast through our waterway, carried by the wind, etc.

For this reason, it says people in Laois can make a difference for our ocean, by tackling marine litter at its source, and picking up litter from local parks, streets, estates, rivers or lakes. 

Since 2003, Clean Coasts says has been working with communities to help protect and care for Ireland’s waterways, coastline, seas, ocean and marine life.

For the past 20 years, Clean Coasts says has been working to create tangible and immediate improvements to Ireland’s coastal environment, involving thousands of volunteers removing large quantities of marine litter from our coastline each year.  

For this reason, the programme are looking forward to marking this milestone by doing something to protect the Irish coast and celebrating the amazing groups and volunteers around Ireland for the work they do all year round.  

For 2023, the focus of World Ocean Day will be on the 30x30 campaign meaning that for us to create a healthy ocean with abundant wildlife and to stabilize our climate, it’s crucial that 30% of our planet’s lands, waters, and ocean are protected by the year 2030. 

Marine litter has become a global problem for humans and marine life alike. For the past 20 years, Clean Coasts has been working with communities to tackle this issue.

Making sure litter is collected and disposed of properly at the source is vital for a cleaner ocean and a greener world for all of us to enjoy. Communities in Laois have demonstrated their desire to be part of the solution by taking part in several beach cleaning calls to action.   

Sinead McCoy, Coastal Communities Manager, speaking of the event said: “70% of litter in our ocean comes from activities, this litter comes from actions at the coast and throughout our country. Litter from towns and cities easily get into waterways and stream or get caught on the wind and travel out the coast and become marine litter. So wherever you are in the country we can all  have an incredibly positive effect on our natural environment and coast by cleaning up our local spaces. 

"We were incredibly inspired by the 50 community groups in Laois that registered for the National Spring Clean and removed 4.7 tonnes of litter from the county. These volunteers and groups have a genuinely positive impact on our natural environment and our oceans' health,” she said.

The charity is asking everybody around Ireland to join their birthday celebrations and make a difference for our marine environment and wildlife. To request a kit, visit www.cleancoasts.org

More about the initiative and events will be announced later this month.