Hundreds of clean-ups take place across Cork during 25th 'National Spring Clean'

Some 550 clean-ups took place across Cork last month as part of An Taisce’s 25th annual National Spring Clean, an event which saw more than 11,000 volunteers participate throughout the county.

Among them, Bere Island residents came together for a successful event boasting participation from approximately 30 volunteers spanning all age groups. Following the success of this clean-up, volunteers decided to extend the initiative throughout April.

The initiative received crucial support from the local ferry company, providing a free trip to transport collected bags to the recycling centre in Castletownbere.

Every year, the National Spring Clean encourages communities from across Ireland to roll up their sleeves to tackle the problem of litter in local areas and to see the benefits of a litter-free environment. The National Spring Clean event was sponsored by Mars Wrigley Ireland.

This year, 5,430 groups registered to carry out clean-ups throughout the country, with more than 500,000 volunteers collecting an estimated 2,725 tonnes of litter.

Some 35% of all waste collected was recycled using the recyclable waste bags provided. This brings the total amount of rubbish collected over the past 25 years of the campaign to more than 50,200t.

“Over the past 25 years, An Taisce’s National Spring Clean campaign has been a huge success,” said minister of state at the environment, Ossian Smyth.

“I am delighted to see another year of positive engagement and community impact.

“It is fantastic to see the pride individuals take in their local communities.

National Spring Clean chairperson Emlyn Cullen said:

 “This year marked an important year for An Taisce as we celebrated 25 years of the National Spring Clean, and we are so proud to have collected over 2,725 tonnes of litter.

“I’d like to thank all the individuals and groups who came out in droves to help support this campaign.”