Volunteers fight a rising tide of litter

HIGH winds, strong tides, and harsh storms deposited a mess of litter and rubbish on Sandymount Strand and the surrounding coastline over the winter.

So a community organisation was formed to do something about it.

Catherine Devitt was disgusted and inspired by the sight one day.

“I was running around Irishtown Nature Park and seeing all this rubbish that was thrown in from the sea,

? she said.

“It was impossible to ignore. It was really depressing, actually.

“We have a small group in Sandymount interested in the environment, and we decided that we needed to do something. Two of us got together one morning and we spent a couple of hours cleaning up one section.

“Some people even joined in as they were walking past. We then decided to make it a monthly thing, beginning in December of last year.

“It was just an ad hoc response to the crazy weather.

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She organised the monthly clean-up through friends and on Facebook, and Sandymount Beach Cleanup was born.

On Saturday, May 10 a team of local volunteers met at Sean Moore Park for the latest beach cleaning event. With each taking gloves and a bag, they split up along the beach picking up all manner of rubbish from the sand, rocks, and seaweed.

They collected cans and metal scraps, clothing, wood and paper products, and rope, but nothing filled the bags more than plastic. Bottles, wrappers, tarpaulin pieces, can rings, and other plastic bits were scattered all over the beach and embedded in the rocks.

It was Sandymount resident Richard Costelloe’s third time cleaning up the beach.

He described the litter they pick up as

“a little bit of absolutely everything, some of the weirdest stuff. The best thing was a ball for my dog.

“It is absolutely better since we’ve started, but after a high tide or a storm it will be right back to the same or worse, there’s no doubt.

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This month, the clean-up happened to coincide with Clean Coasts Week organised by An Taisce. From May 9 to 18, Clean Coasts organised the largest ever coastal cleaning in Ireland.

Volunteer organisations like Sandymount Beach Cleanup from all over the country registered beach cleanings and received gloves, safety vests, bags, and other litter collecting equipment free of charge. They also sponsored a number of events to raise awareness of marine litter and its environmental impact.

In the future, Sandymount Beach Cleanup hopes to continue monthly cleanings, get more people involved, raise awareness, and tackle marine litter problems at the source.

Devitt outlined some of the biggest challenges

“What choices do we make as consumers when we go to the supermarket, when we buy lots of plastic? When do we choose to recycle? One of the big problems with Sandymount strand is that we get a lot of sanitary waste because it’s located quite close to a sewage treatment plant. A lot of waste gets through the treatment plant and is deposited into the bay.

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Marine litter is a worldwide environmental problem, but the efforts of volunteer groups like this are making a small but inspiring impact.

Sandymount Beach Cleanup volunteers meet on the first Saturday of every month at 11am at the Sean Moore Park entrance to Sandymount Strand. For more information, find and follow them on Facebook. More on Clean Coasts Week can be found at www.cleancoasts week.ie.