Clean Coasts Clare are leading a visually driven campaign to help tackle increased littering after several coastal communities expressed concern for this summer.
With outdoor dining and a lack of foreign travel, everyone is heading west this summer, expressed Coastal Programmes & LEAF Officer within the Environmental Education Unit of An Taisce Ray O’Foghlu.
Concern of a potential disaster on top of an already strenuous workload for Clare Clean Coast groups was the catalyst for a video campaign that hopes to “reach young and old, from inside and outside the county” this summer.
With the emphasis on “a positive message for tourism in Clare this summer”, the video offers an insight from several key figures within coastal regions, urging an onus on “personal responsibility.” Maintaining regular contact with coastal groups as part of his role in An Taisce, Ray decided to secure funding from Clean Coasts and Clare County Council in order to kickstart the campaign.
“This is a community driven project, where people offer their thoughts on summer. With the closure of indoor dining for pubs and the proliferation of takeaway food, we are seeing that many of these boxes don’t fit into the bins. Locals have also raised concerns over drinking in the dunes at Lahinch and Spanish Point. They are very apprehensive about fires being lit there and littering as well as the overall health and well being of the dune system.”
The video was filmed by Ray and Liscannor resident and videographer Kevin L. Smith, over a weekend, travelling between Doolin and Kilkee. The video features Farmer and Guide Pat Sweeney, Ferry Operator Eugene Garrihy, Senator Roisin Garvey (GP), Snamhaí Sasta’s June Curtin, Cllr. Cillian Murphy (FF), hotelier John Burke as well as several other key coastal figures in Clare.
“The video shows the aesthetics of the Clare coast quite well. We wanted to go with a video format as it is more shareable and will reach a varied audience in age and location. It’s a positive message as we see that areas like West Clare are quite reliant on tourism. The main message is that there will never be enough bins along our coastal communities. Each and every one of us must take personal responsibility wherever we go this summer,” Ray, who is an environmental scientist concluded.
