More than 110 Tipperary groups sign up for National Spring Clean

National Spring Clean is operated by the Environmental Education Unit of An Taisce in partnership with Local Authorities and supported by the Department of Environment, Communications and Climate Environment and Mars Wrigley Ireland.

In county Tipperary, over 4,000 volunteers carried out over 250 clean-ups throughout the county in 2021.

In 2022, over 110 groups and communities already registered to carry out a clean-up as part of the National Spring Clean, with some groups who have already been carrying out some clean-ups while waiting for the official launch of the campaign today. Among them, Mullinahone Village Tidy Towns organised a clean-up in March in the area removing a considerable amount of litter, including plastic and a lot of household waste.

The initiative takes part in the month of April and for the past 23 years National Spring Clean has volunteered over 12 million hours of their time to remove 42,000 tonnes of litter across the country.

Community spirit is integral to the work that The National Spring Clean does and each year communities from all over the country come together to ensure their local areas are as clean possible for everyone to enjoy together.

This year the theme of community pride is at the forefront of the campaign with The National Spring Clean urging people of all ages to gather friends, family, classmates, neighbours or colleagues to unite in cleaning their shared green spaces together.

National Spring Clean 2021 was the biggest and the longest campaign so far, taking place between March and August, and despite the current situation and restrictions at the start of the year.

This year, the campaign is on track to make 2022’s National Spring Clean campaign the biggest yet with the organization already surpassing the number of registrations they had gained this time last year.

It is also an opportunity for volunteers to take local actions to make a change at a global scale as combined local actions can have a global effect on how we dispose and treat our waste. This has a substantial impact on the levels of emissions of several greenhouse gases which contribute to climate change.

For those who would like to organise a clean-up please log on to our website at www.nationalspringclean.org to request a free clean-up kit.

Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications, Eamon Ryan TD, said:

“The statistics for what the National Spring Clean achieves every year are staggering and are a real testament to the energy, drive and community commitment of volunteers up and down the country who come out and work hard together to protect, enhance and clear up our local environments. It’s unpaid, largely unsung and often unseen work that improves the quality of life for all of us. I would like to salute your work and express my gratitude for the hours of selfless volunteer work that help make National Spring Clean such a critical part of the annual environmental calendar here. I would also like to acknowledge the key role played by An Taisce in overseeing the campaign. My Department will continue to provide support to the campaign and I look forward to the many events that will be held countrywide.”

National Spring Clean Manager, Emlyn Cullen, commented:

“The Spring Clean has always been a community initiative as much as anti-litter campaign. Communities big and small come together to do their bit for their local area. It can be a couple of neighbours doing their road or a whole town with multiple organizations joining together to do a massive clean-up. These collective efforts bring people together and create tremendous social capital.”

Mars Wrigley Ireland Corporate Affairs Manager, Nicola Forde added:

“The National Spring Clean is a shining example of an initiative that successfully engages communities across the country behind one common purpose – to keep Ireland clean and green. Mars Wrigley Ireland are proud to support programmes like the National Spring Clean that align with our own ambition to reduce litter and waste, something we’ve been championing for more than 15 years in Ireland.”

To make sure that each community clean up can run as smoothly as possible the National Spring Clean has also provided various downloadable information packs on their website for their volunteers to read. The clean-up information pack containing details on how to organise an event, health and safety information, litter facts, useful contacts, media and publicity advice, a guide on how to recycle and information on litter and the law.

For those who would like to organise a clean-up please log on to our website at www.nationalspringclean.org to request a free clean-up kit.

ABOUT NATIONAL SPRING CLEAN

The National Spring Clean campaign Ireland is largest and longest running anti-litter campaign. It is operated by the Environmental Education Unit of An Taisce and sponsored by the Wrigley Company. It is supported by Local Authorities who help co-ordinate clean-up activities for communities within their counties and the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment. Local authorities also provide for the disposal of all rubbish and waste materials collected.

Over the past 23 years, through the National Spring Clean:

• Over 85,000 clean-ups have been organised

• 42,000 tonnes of litter have been removed

• 12 million hours of work have been put in by volunteers

What we can do outside the month of April

While the National Spring Clean usually runs through the month of April, please remember that personal actions throughout the year are very important too. Here are some choices we can make daily to make a positive change:

• When you are out for a walk, visiting a park or a beach, do a quick #2minutestreetclean or a #2minutebeachclean

• Avoid single-use plastic when possible, by choosing more sustainable alternatives, such as reusable bottles and coffee cups, cotton bags, metal straws, etc…

• Don’t litter and if a bin is overflowing, keep your waste until you find a waste to dispose of it properly

• If you can’t reduce or reuse, recycle; know where and how to recycle all types of waste.

• Recent statistics show that, in Ireland, discarded cigarette butts make up for 60% of litter on the streets. Always bin your butt!

• Make sure to bin your chewing gum when you’re done to avoid a €150 gum littering fine and keep our streets clean!