Hard-working volunteers cleaned up a large amount of dog poo from a Co Wicklow village in a massive weekend cleanup.
The local community clean-up on Sunday was organised by Flossie and The Beach Cleaners - a volunteer organisation led by south Dublin teen Flossie Donnelly and mum Harriet. A staggering 1,033.2kgs of pollution was removed from Irish rivers, canals, lakes, and beaches over the bank holiday weekend.
A total of 20kgs of dog poo was picked up in Kilcoole. Other weird finds included "endless" fun shot cartridges from large fishing vessels in Galway, a car bumper, a live field mouse trapped in packaging, and an "adult toy".
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The event kicked off with over 440 volunteers right across the 26 counties cleaning their local waterways on the same day. Rubbish levels were down compared to last year when volunteers cleaned up a whopping 3456kgs of filth across Ireland.
Mum Harriet said: "As an environmental charity we saw first-hand how much extra pollution had been created during the pandemic including masks, plastic bottles, wipes and single use coffee cups they polluted our waterways and did so much damage to the marine life and the biosphere.
"A year on there are less masks but still endless wipes, plastic bottles, coffee cups and the newest offender for 2022 are ‘Vapes’!"
Flossie Donnelly said: "We love what we do and love to connect with the community 'Our Big Weigh In' shows just how much damage pollution is causing to the planet. Being part of the solution, and organising a clean-up, shows young people that they can make a difference, and once you see pollution on a cleanup, you can't unsee it!"
Read more:
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