April 1st marked the official launch of the National #SpringClean22! For the past 23 years the campaign has volunteered over 12 million hours of their time to remove 42,000 tonnes of litter across the country.
National Spring Clean is operated by the Environmental Education Unit of An Taisce in partnership with Local Authorities, including Kildare County Council and supported by the Department of Environment, Communications and Climate Environment and Mars Wrigley Ireland.
Initiatives in Kildare such as the Green Kilometre scheme contribute greatly to this.
Community spirit is integral to the work that The National Spring Clean does and each year communities from Kildare and all over the country come together to ensure their local areas are as clean as possible for everyone to enjoy together.
This year the theme of community pride is at the forefront of the campaign 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 restrictions at the start of the year, 5,543 groups registered to carry out clean-ups throughout the country and collected an estimated 3,000 tonnes of litter around Ireland.
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. There are currently 183 registered cleanups in Kildare with hopes for even more to come.
Athy Tidy Towns annual river clean-up is one such event which will take place on Saturday 30th April from 10am – 1 pm in conjunction with Athy Sports hub, Civil Defence, Athy Town Promoters, local water-based clubs, Athy Waterways, Athy boat tours, Athy Anglers, Athy Rowing and Canoeing club, Athy Community college, Kildare County Show, Kildare County Council and the Community Water Officer. The clean-up aims to clean and maintain our waterways and is a fantastic example of a community coming together to make a difference in their local environment.
The National Spring Clean is 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 visit www.nationalspringclean.org to request a free clean-up kit.
Source: Kildare County Council
