Press release -
27 tonnes of marine litter removed during coca-cola clean coasts week
27 tonnes of marine litter were removed from beaches and coastlines during Coca-Cola Clean Coasts Week 2019, which ran from 1 - 9 June, launched by a large-scale beach art project created by local volunteers.
Communities joined together to host beach clean-ups and celebrate the coastline with fun water-based activities. Over the course of the week, in Northern Ireland alone, 1859 volunteers collected 931 litter bags across 65 events – that’s more than double the number of volunteers from the previous year. Across the Island of Ireland that totalled 27 tonnes of marine litter removed - 9 tonnes more than last year.
Coca-Cola Clean Coasts Week aimed to engage and empower people and communities to protect our precious coastal resources and appreciate everything our coastline has to offer. Events included free beach yoga classes, underwater litter picks, seaweed workshops, hiking and canoeing clean ups and plogging (the Scandinavian trend of picking up litter while jogging), to name a few.
Jodie McAneaney, Live Here Love Here Manager at Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful comments: “With almost 200 events across the Island of Ireland, Coca-Cola Clean Coasts Week 2019 has been one of our most successful yet. Here in Northern Ireland we have doubled the number of people taking part since last year which is an incredible achievement – thanks must go to these dedicated volunteers who have worked so hard. Our aim is to inspire a clean coasts community which will continue to protect, preserve and enjoy our beaches, rivers, lakes and loughs for years to come.”
Speaking about their involvement, Gillian Shields, Packaging and Sustainability Manager, Coca-Cola HBC Ireland and Northern Ireland said, “Coca-Cola has been proudly supporting the Clean Coasts programme for the past 11 years. Through our involvement in the Coca-Cola Clean Coasts Week this year, we are delighted to have helped support the thousands of volunteers across the island of Ireland who are caring for our beaches whilst championing responsible behaviour when it comes to littering.”
For further information on how to get involved with any of the Live Here Love Here projects visit www.liveherelovehere.org
Topics
- County council issues
Categories
- environment
- #ourmea
Regions
- Antrim
- For further press information, please contact Katie Gawley at Navigator Blue on 02890246722 k.gawley@navigatorblue.com
- For Mid and East Antrim Borough Council media enquiries T: 028 2563 5037 E: communications@midandeastantrim.gov.uk
- Join Mid and East Antrim Borough Council on Facebook or follow us on Twitter
Live Here Love Here is a national campaign aimed at promoting civic pride and a community can-do attitude by improving environmental quality in Northern Ireland. We tackle issues such as poor environmental quality, littering and dilapidation, by encouraging volunteers to take practical action in their local communities. Live Here Love Here is an inspiring partnership between the Department of Agriculture Environment and Rural Affairs; Northern Ireland Housing Executive; Coca-Cola; McDonald’s UK; Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council; Ards and North Down Borough Council; Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council; Belfast City Council; Derry City and Strabane District Council; Fermanagh and Omagh District Council; Lisburn and Castlereagh City Council; Mid and East Antrim Borough Council; Mid Ulster District Council and Newry, Mourne and Down District Council working alongside Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful. To learn more please visit www.liveherelovehere.org.
Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful is a charity working towards the vision of a cleaner, greener Northern Ireland by running environmental education programmes and awareness raising campaigns, increasing volunteering opportunities and reporting on local environmental quality. Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful runs a range of awareness raising and volunteering campaigns including the BIG Spring Clean and the Clean Coasts programme as well as local environmental quality programmes such as international Eco-Schools and Blue Flag programmes, the Seaside Award, Borough Cleanliness Surveys and Live Here Love Here Green Business Awards. For more information, visit www.keepnorthernirelandbeautiful.org or view our Media Kit here.
About Coca-Cola
The Coca-Cola Company, together with bottling partners Coca-Cola HBC Ireland and Northern Ireland, manufactures, distributes and responsibly markets a full range of beverages, including 20 brands and 49 different products that are sold in thousands of retail outlets across the country. The Coca-Cola Company is responsible for creating demand through consumer marketing and brand development and Coca-Cola HBC, as bottling partner, manufactures, sells and distributes products to more than 9,000 outlets across the island of Ireland. Together, the Coca-Cola system employs 1,750 people across the island of Ireland. Our products range from Coca-Cola, Coca-Cola Zero Sugar and Diet Coke through to Sprite, Fanta, Powerade, Oasis, Schweppes, Fruice and Deep RiverRock. 97% of everything that we sell across the island of Ireland is manufactured from our plant in Knockmore Hill, Lisburn, Co. Antrim.
