It is time to roll up our sleeves and make a meaningful impact on our environment as registrations open for the 25th National Spring Clean.
Operated by An Taisce, the National Spring Clean is Ireland’s largest anti-litter campaign, rallying thousands of volunteers each year. This year marks 25 years of the campaign, which has seen the removal of an estimated 47,500 tonnes of litter from Irish streets, parks, coastlines, thanks to over 12 million hours of volunteering over the years.
Kicking off its 25th year this April, organisers are encouraging individuals and communities across the country to register now to ensure that the 2024 campaign is the biggest and most impactful to date. To support this ambition, National Spring Clean is also teaming up with two other An Taisce Environmental Education Unit programmes – Clean Coasts and Green-Schools – to host flagship Earth Day clean ups on April 22nd.
Launching this year’s registration drive, Emlyn Cullen, Programme Manager, An Taisce highlighted the impact that the campaign has had on Ireland’s litter landscape: “We’re thrilled to be celebrating 25 years of the National Spring Clean with our 2024 campaign. Over the years, the campaign has been hugely successful in combatting litter and protecting local environments and biodiversity, thanks to the thousands of volunteers in communities across the country.”
“To mark the 25-year milestone, we’re hoping to have record levels of participation and litter collection, so if you have the time and the ability, I’d strongly encourage you to get involved! It’s a fantastic way to give back to your local community in a simple but hugely impactful way.”
Volunteers are invited to register individually or in groups to receive a free clean-up kit and take part in the annual event, which is operated by the Environmental Education Unit of An Taisce in partnership with Local Authorities and supported by the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment and Mars Wrigley.
Minister of State at the Environment, Climate and Communications, Ossian Smyth TD, said: “The local volunteers who participate every year in An Taisce’s National Spring Clean continue to demonstrate the fantastic community spirit and desire to make a positive contribution to the local environment that is to be found throughout Ireland. I am certain that this sense of volunteerism will be reflected through record numbers registering to participate in the 25th edition of the National Spring Clean in 2024.”
Katrine Grytter, Corporate Affairs Director for Mars Multisales North Europe added: “Mars Wrigley Ireland is proud to support the National Spring Clean, which has played a significant role in reducing litter and protecting biodiversity across Ireland for the past 25 years, while also bringing communities together. The ethos of the National Spring Clean aligns closely with our company mission of becoming ‘sustainable in a generation’ and is one of many partnerships that Mars Wrigley is engaged in to promote a cleaner and healthier planet. We hope the 2024 campaign delivers another year of record success!”
A key focus of this year’s campaign will be highlighting the impact that a circular economy model can have on reducing waste and reducing our climate impact. Last year alone, 35% of all waste collected during the National Spring Clean was recycled, thanks to recyclable waste bags provided to registered groups and individuals.
“The National Spring Clean is primarily about enabling litter picks, but more than that, we also raise awareness about reducing our litter impact to protect our biodiversity and create cleaner and healthier communities. Adopting a circular economy approach is central to this, so this year we’re encouraging participants to think about what they can do to reduce their consumption and waste outputs”, Emlyn explained.
