Clean Coasts 2022 Big Beach Clean. Left to right - Colum O'Sullivan, Founder Cully & Sully, Elaine Doyle, Clean Coasts Campaigns Officer, Cullen Allen, Founder Cully & Sully, Emlyn Cullen, National Spring Clean Manager, Proinsias Ó Tuama, Clean Coasts Ballynamona. Photo: Cathal Noonan

Volunteers are being sought as more than 80 beaches are being cleaned in Co. Cork this weekend as part of a Clean Coasts project to remove litter.

In previous beach cleans the group has discovered bottles with labels going back at least three decades. During the summer months, they have picked up masks, towels, flip-flops, beer bottles, broken glass and tents.

An Taisce's coastal communities manager, Sinead McCoy, says they have been heartened by the huge response to the clean-up. “It's gone from one to two people and their families going out to several hundred people from schools and scout groups. People have been very interested and it is great to see.” 

Ms McCoy says that volunteers will deal with an assortment of items this weekend.

“The reason we do it at the end of the summer is that we have all been on the beach for the summer and it does get littered. But it is also to take off any litter that is coming from the Atlantic Ocean. 

The plastic in the ocean is such a major issue and although there is greater awareness of it in recent years it is a historical issue that has been building up since the 1950s with our throwaway culture.

The Big Beach Clean initiative is also an opportunity for volunteers to get involved in a worldwide citizen science project, which entails collecting the amount and types of litter on Irish beaches and filling in Clean Coasts’ Marine Litter Data Cards.

This will help heighten awareness about the issue of marine litter, serving as an indicator of the magnitude of the problem and help shape future policies and campaigns. In 2021, over 400 clean-ups were organised in Ireland, with volunteers removing 42 tonnes of marine litter. 

Since the first International Coastal Cleanup in 1986, over 17 million volunteers have joined local clean-up efforts big and small to remove 158 million kilograms of rubbish from beaches and waterways around the globe, all the while logging each item and building the world’s largest database on marine debris.

Read More1,000kg worth of rubbish collected in charity clean-up, with vapes 'the newest offender' 

Data collected from the International Coastal Cleanup has informed policy in a number of areas, leading to laws banning the use of plastic grocery bags, prohibiting smoking-related litter, encouraging the use of reusable bags, prohibiting mass balloon releases and prohibiting foam food and beverage takeaway containers.

Clean Coasts is a charity programme, run through the Environmental Education Unit of An Taisce, which engages communities in the protection of Ireland’s beaches, seas and marine life. It works with communities to help protect and care for Ireland’s waterways, coastline, seas, ocean and marine life.

It has grown over the years and now includes two main national clean-up drives. Other initiatives include the Green Coast Award, the Love Your Coast Photography competition, the Clean Coasts Roadshows for coastal communities and the Ocean Hero Awards. 

Currently, there are over 1800 registered Clean Coasts volunteering groups. People who wish to get involved in a clean-up this weekend can obtain further information on the Clean Coasts website at cleancoasts.org.

Read MoreWe've enjoyed our beaches all summer — here's to get involved in giving them a bit of TLC

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