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Rostrevor was the scene of an historic moment last month, as volunteers for Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful carried out a clean-up on the town’s beach and lifted the millionth piece of litter that the environmental charity has counted across the ten beaches that they survey nationwide.

The organisation has been carrying out these surveys since 2012, using a well-trained group of dedicated volunteers to assess the levels of marine litter washed up on some of our best loved and most iconic beaches. Once the litter count is complete, another team of volunteers then follow in behind and bag it all up, ensuring that our beaches are kept as clean as possible while also allowing relevant data to be gathered on the extent of the marine litter issue. These data are then used to publish their annual Marine Litter Report and are also uploaded to the OSPAR Commission’s database – a portal that receives data from a number of other countries in North East Europe. This information can then be used to develop policy and research potential solutions to the issue, which has come under intense public scrutiny within the last year.

Whilst one million pieces of litter may seem like a shocking figure for some, to others it is not at all surprising. Freddie Harris, the Cleaner Neighbourhoods Manager at Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful, said, “We see a ridiculous amount of litter on some of our survey beaches. The number we have reached this month is obviously a big milestone, but it’s hard to be too pleased about it because it’s a clear sign that we’re not doing enough to combat the problem. We can collect data, write reports and inform policy makers as much as we like, but unless we also engage with the public in a way that energises them to change the way they act, we’re fighting a losing battle. We would ask everyone to think about their daily habits with regards to waste, whether it’s taking reuseable bags with them to the shops, or bringing their refillable mug to the café – we can all do our bit to help. The most worrying aspect of this for me is that if you look at the data from 2012 to 2017, 79% of all the litter we’ve counted has been plastic. This is a material that never disappears from our environment – it just gets smaller and smaller until it works its way into the food chain and our drinking water. That can’t be healthy.”

The charity also announced that they have just received funding from the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs to run a programme that will specifically target Single Use Plastics, assessing their use in Northern Ireland and looking at ways in which that can be reduced to help address the overall issue of litter in our local environment.

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To speak to a programme spokesperson, please contact Dr Ian Humphreys, CEO, at ian.humphreys@keepnorthernirelandbeautiful.org or on 028 90 736 920.

Council spending on cleaning streets, roads and open spaces has seen a significant increase of 5% during the last financial year, amounting to a total of £45,562,532 across Northern Ireland. This comes as a result of deploying extra resources to keep our streets clean. However, the practice of issuing Fixed Penalty Notices (FPN) for dropping litter and dog fouling has dropped by 13% on last year. As such, there is a greater focus on cleaning up after litterers across the province rather than fining offenders in the first place.

The figures, which were gathered by environmental charity Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful from Council financial statements and records of enforcement, show the true cost that litter passes on to all of us, despite being dropped by only a few. To put the spend figure into context, it’s almost half the amount spent on constructing the iconic Titanic Belfast museum, or the purchase cost of over 100,000 new street bins.

The money used to pay for the clean-up costs comes from our rates, with the average charge to every domestic rate payer in Northern Ireland sitting at just over £57 for last year.

This is particularly interesting given the amount of money being recovered in fines compared to the amount being spent on cleaning. The stand out performer here was Armagh, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council, who managed to recoup 0.77% of the amount through the payment of Fixed Penalty Notices. This may seem a small number, but it was 37 times more than the Council who recovered the least through fines, thus showing potential to offset some of these costs to the ratepayer. The total raised by Fixed Penalty Notices to be set against the cost of cleansing was just £169,588, less than 0.5% of the total cost.

Dr Ian Humphreys, Chief Executive of Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful, said “Fining litterers is a part of the solution to the global problem of litter and with the real dangers of particularly plastic pollution now widely understood, there is no excuse for littering behaviour. Relying on the hard working Council street cleaning teams, and the army of volunteers who are dedicated to quietly cleaning up their local patch, is no longer acceptable. Thankfully, most people put their rubbish in the bin and many are joining Live Here Love Here and helping create cleaner, more responsible and prouder communities.”

Those penalised for dropping litter has decreased from 3,724 to 3,158 – a worrying trend considering the fact that we are spending more on the clean up operation. Surveys carried out by Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful have shown that the percentage of our streets that failed to meet an acceptable standard has remained at 15% from last year. On a more positive note, however, the same surveys indicate that there has been a remarkable 7% rise in streets categorised as completely free of litter. Equally encouraging, more enforcement action has been taken to curb dog fouling on our streets.

Councils are also investing in anti-litter initiatives such as Live Here Love Here, a public engagement campaign supported by nine of the eleven Councils, the Department for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs, NI Housing Executive, Choice Housing, Coca-Cola, McDonald’s and Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful.

The full 2017/18 Cleaner Neighbourhoods Report by Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful will be published at the end of March.

On Thursday 5th October, Live Here Love Here and Coca-Cola HBC celebrated the 10th Anniversary of the Coca-Cola Coast Care Awards, held at Parliament Buildings, Stormont. The event, hosted by BBC Weatherman Barra Best, praised and rewarded the efforts of volunteers who have gone the extra mile to clean up and look after our coastline and inland waterways, in a bid to preserve the natural beauty of these areas.

The awards also celebrated the beauty of Northern Ireland’s Coastline and Inland waterways through the Picture Perfect Award; showcasing the beautiful scenery this country has to offer. Guests were entertained by music from talented, young musicians Fourte Strings and visual entertainment by sand sculptor, Tony Hawkins. The guest speaker on the night was writer, surfer and founder of the #2minutebeachclean campaign, Martin Dorey; he spoke from the heart, relating to and encouraging volunteers to continue in their fight against marine litter and highlighting the significance of even the smallest of gestures.

The Live Here Love Here Clean Coasts Programme supports the work of volunteers who clean up beaches, rivers and loughs throughout Northern Ireland, providing equipment and support to these outstanding local heroes. This would not be possible without the continued support of Coca-Cola HBC Ireland and Northern Ireland.

The programme was founded in 2007 and in 2008 recorded a total of 110 volunteers. The programme has grown dramatically to a staggering 4642 volunteers in 2016. In 2017, the programme came into its element, with new and innovative events taking place throughout the country. A Clean Up and Drum Circle, a Cycle Sea Safari, Beach Clean and Boot Camp, and an Extreme Cave Clean in the underground rivers of Fermanagh are just a few of the events which engaged local people, both familiar and new to the programme. These events highlighted the effects of marine litter but also showcased the beautiful coastlines and inland waterways that our country has to offer.

Dr Ian Humphreys, Chief Executive of Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful, said: “Our ten year partnership with Coca-Cola enables us to consistently support a growing movement of people who have the tenacity to keep on cleaning up our coast and inland waterways. Tonight we take the time to celebrate their achievements, their passion and their ‘can-do’ attitude that is keeping Northern Ireland’s shores, loughs, canals and rivers beautiful. It is obvious such volunteers really do live here and love here and their work is truly inspiring. Thank you.”

Louise Sullivan, Director Public Affairs and Communications, Coca-Cola HBC Ireland and Northern Ireland said, “We are immensely proud of our long-standing partnership with Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful. As leaders in sustainability, we strive to minimise our impact on the environment and a key element of our efforts are focused on environmental

stewardship within communities. Everyone here tonight has the shared aim of keeping our country as beautiful as possible and I would like to both thank and congratulate everyone in this room for your hard work and dedication in doing so. These awards should act as an inspiration to others and hopefully your example will be followed and we will see many more volunteers around the country caring for our beautiful coast.”

The award winners and honorary mentions are as follows:

Coca-Cola Coast Care Group

Winner: Ballyhornan Development Association

Coca-Cola Inland Waterway Group

Winner: Six Mile Water Trust

Brighter Futures

Joint Winner: Ulidia Integrated College Eco Team

Joint Winner: 29th Belfast Beaver Scouts Carryduff

Better Business Partnership

Winner: Citi Belfast

Local Hero

Winner: Pat Watson, Inland Waterways Association Ireland

Picture Perfect

Winner: Wilbert McIlmoyle

More resources than ever are being devoted to maintaining a clean and welcoming environment in Northern Ireland, according to the Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful.

In a report published today, the environmental charity said that 2016-17 had seen a record £43Million spent on cleaning the streets. In response the year ahead will see nine of the eleven councils working together to tackle littering behaviour. Among other figures the charity highlighted was 233 groups ‘adopting a spot’ in order to keep it clean and inviting, and 24,500 children taking part in anti-litter education.

This intensification of efforts by Councils was welcomed by Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful CEO, Dr Ian Humphreys, who said “The rising street cleaning bill, being met by ratepayers, is simply unsustainable. This is why many organisations are joining forces to change littering behaviour. Together we can begin to make a difference and this move is being supported by tens of thousands of volunteers who show they live here and love here through clean-ups. With over a third of the public admitting to littering we still have some way to go and so if we want a better place to live we all have to do our bit and get involved.”

While the year saw a slight rise in the percentage of places that were unacceptably littered, it also saw the biggest annual drop in the rates of dog fouling since their surveys began in 2008, and the highest percentage of spaces with no litter – not even a single cigarette butt – at 5%.

One of the surprising facts Dr Humphreys pointed out was that the availability of a bin appears to have little or no impact on the likelihood somewhere will suffer unacceptable littering: “Having a bin in sight in an area makes no statistical difference to how much litter ends up on the ground. This suggests that for many people bins are either deemed irrelevant or invisible. We need to change people’s mind-set so that they look for and use a bin, or take their rubbish home.”

The charity has made a number of recommendations that it believes would go a long way to achieving its vision of a cleaner country.

The charity says that fiscal measures should be explored further as part of a wider system of measures.

The development of programmes that reward desirable behaviour such picking up after your dog have been put forward as ways of preventing littering – like giving a vaccine rather than treating an illness.

Perhaps more controversially, the charity is suggesting that the government and Councils consider introducing American-style parking restrictions, where on-street parking is banned in a particular area for a few hours once a week to allow thorough cleaning; their surveys suggest that mechanical sweepers are regularly prevented from doing their job because of parked cars.

Dr Humphreys concluded “As the evenings lengthen and we look to spend more time outdoors we all want to enjoy spaces free of litter and dog fouling. To achieve this requires us all to do our bit and show we live here and really do love here.”

Copenhagen 8 September 2016 – The Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE) is holding its biennial General Assembly on 15-16 September in Ahmedabad, India. At the assembly sessions, member organisations from 75 countries will be discussing the most recent developments in FEE and elect their new President and Board of Directors.

The General Assembly is arranged and hosted by the Centre for Environment Education (CEE) India, FEE’s Associate Member in India. The first two assembly sessions will be addressing the latest developments and strategic planning for FEE and its five programmes, whilst at the Members’ Forum sessions, members will have the opportunity to join workshops on the implementation of programmes, projects and campaigns. 15 new organisations are to be confirmed as members of FEE.

The FEE President is elected every four years and the Board of Directors every two. Following the nomination procedure, a new President and Board of Directors will be elected for the period 2016-2020 and 2016-2018 respectively. The coming General Assembly will herald the end of an era with the retirement of Jan Eriksen. Current president and a member of FEE for over 26 years, Jan has steered the organisation through some its most demanding periods of transition and growth and is leaving it as the globally recognised and respected organisation that you know today: a fitting testament to his diligence and commitment to FEE over the years.

The assembly will be followed by the CEE Conference on ‘Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) for Transforming Education for Children and Youth’, to take place on 16–18 September 2016. The Conference aims at bringing together global experience and expertise to highlight and strengthen the role of ESD.

About the Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE) www.fee.global

With members in 75 countries around the world, FEE’s programmes represent the cutting edge in Education for Sustainable Development and Environmental Education. It is the vision of the Foundation for Environmental Education that its programmes empower people everywhere to live sustainably and in an environmentally conscious manner.

Join the 4,600 volunteers Keeping Northern Ireland Beautiful

Coca-Cola Clean Coast Week 2016 calls for new recruits to join in the Island of Ireland’s Largest Coastal Clean Up!

6th-15th May 2016

The Clean Coast programme saw more than 4,600 volunteers, in 210 community groups, collect a staggering 28 tonnes of litter from the marine environment in Northern Ireland throughout 2015.

Coca-Cola Clean Coast Week 2016, which runs from 6th – 15th May, is now calling for new recruits across Northern Ireland to get involved in the numerous events and clean-ups taking place along coasts, beaches, rivers and loughs around the province throughout the week.

A joint initiative between Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful and Coca-Cola, the theme of the 2016 awareness week is ‘Enjoy Your Beach, Enjoy Your Beach Clean’. This year’s campaign will run in partnership with An Taisce in the Republic of Ireland and there are a range of cross boarder activities planned including clean up events along Lough Foyle and Carlingford Lough and the opportunity for volunteers to travel to Wexford to carry out a special beach clean ahead of a seal release!

The United Nation Environmental Programme (UNEP) estimates that 8 million individual litter items enter the marine environment every day. Marine litter includes a range of materials which have been deliberately discarded, or accidentally lost on shore or at sea. It includes materials that are carried out to sea from land, rivers, drainage, sewerage systems and even by the wind.

The Clean Coast programme supports communities who are passionate about caring for Northern Ireland’s coastline and inland waterways, and Coca-Cola Clean Coast Week 2016 will see a range of fun and informative events with the aim of raising awareness of the importance of keeping these important natural resources free from litter. Volunteers across Northern Ireland will demonstrate the ethos of “Live Here Love Here” by organising practical clean-ups to reduce the impact of litter on the marine environment.

Coastal celebrations through the week will range from beach fitness activities in Portballintrae incorporating clean-ups, to a ‘balsam bashing’ event at Lagan Valley Regional Park, to halt the spread of the invasive plant. The Coca-Cola Coast Care Awards and annual photography competition will also launch as part of the celebrations.

Dr Ian Humphreys, Chief Executive of Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful said, “The Coca Cola Coast Care programme is making waves with clean-ups removing tonnes of litter from our beautiful coastline. Litter in the sea is a floating time bomb, just waiting to choke marine mammals, turtles and birds. So every piece removed helps save a life. Of course Coast Care volunteers would rather be doing something more constructive than picking up other people’s litter but the mad people are those who don’t put their litter in the bin in the first place.”

2016 sees the 9th year of Coca-Cola’s support of the initiative and Gillian Shields, Community Investment Manager for Coca-Cola HBC Northern Ireland said, “We are delighted to once again partner with Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful, encouraging local communities to come together in celebration of the wonderful natural resource that is our extensive coastline.

“As a global company, Coca-Cola has proud sustainability credentials and it is a source of great pride for us that Coca-Cola HBC recently topped the Dow Jones World and Europe Sustainability Indices in the beverage category for a 2nd consecutive year. Our local business makes an important contribution to these results, with ambitious 2020 targets to reduce our impact on the environment, focussing on water, waste and energy usage. We are pleased that we are on track to deliver against our commitments, with some already achieved ahead of schedule.

“Our partnership with Clean Coast is a further demonstration of our commitment to sustainability, and I would like to take the opportunity to encourage all community groups across the country to get involved in their local events and clean-ups, supporting the important goal of keeping our marine environment litter-free.”

For a full schedule of events please visit www.liveherelovehere.org. All Clean Coast Week activities added to the Live Here Love Here website will also contribute to Clean Europe Week as part of this annual Europe-wide clean-up event.

If you would like to make a difference in your area whether it be coastal or an inland waterway then you can get involved by getting in touch with Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful by or emailing nicola.murray@keepnorthernirelandbeautiful.org . Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful will be able to support your clean ups with equipment and other means of assistance and you may even be nominated for a prestigious award when the summer is over!

(ENDS)

Further information:

For further information on the Clean Coast Programme in association with Coca-Cola and on Coca Cola Coast Care please contact Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful’s Community Development Officer, Nicola Murray, on 028 9073 6920 or email Nicola.murray@keepnorthernirelandbeautiful.org Or the Chief Executive, Dr Ian Humphreys, on 028 9073 6920 or email ian.humphreys@keepnorthernirelandbeautiful.org

We are proud to launch the Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful manifesto for the 2016 Assembly election.

We would encourage you to have a read of some of our proposals to make Northern Ireland a cleaner, greener place for all of us to live in.

Please click the link below to find out more.

Volunteers who have gone the extra mile to clean up and look after our coastline, loughs and inland waterways have been recognised by environmental charity Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful as part of the prestigious Coca-Cola Coast Care Awards and Seminar event held at Parliament Buildings, Stormont.

Anna Lo, Chair of the Northern Ireland Assembly Committee for the Environment, presented the dedicated volunteers with their awards along with Northern Ireland’s very own mentalist David Meade who hosted the event.

The Coca-Cola Coast Care programme supports the work of volunteers who clean up beaches, rivers and loughs throughout Northern Ireland. With the continued support of Coca-Cola and Tourism Northern Ireland, Coast Care Awards recognise and celebrate the outstanding work of local people who are passionate about caring for Northern Ireland’s coastline, loughs and inland waterways and who carry out practical work in a bid to reduce the impact of litter and other environmental damage to preserve the natural beauty of these areas.

To celebrate the continued success of these awards, two worthy groups were awarded funding through the Live Here Love Here Coca-Cola Community Grant Scheme for coastal and inland waterway projects that demonstrate a benefit to their local environment or wider community.

The Live Here Love Here Coca-Cola Community Grants Scheme forms part of the wider Live Here Love Here programme, aimed at promoting civic pride within communities and improving environmental quality.

The day awards and rewards even celebrated the beauty of Northern Ireland’s Coastline and Inland waterways through the Picture Perfect Award supported by Tourism Northern Ireland, this award captures our beautiful scenery through one single stunning photograph.

Speaking about the event, Environment Minister Mark H Durkan said, “I thoroughly commend the dedication and commitment of those individuals of all ages and across the North who selflessly give up their spare time to ensure that our stunningly beautiful coastline and waterways are kept in pristine condition. I want to take this opportunity to thank each and every one for the vitally important contribution they make.

“This year we saw the introduction of new, tighter EU standards for bathing water quality. In spite of this, our bathing waters still performed extremely well and are in fact among the best in Europe. And it is in no small measure that our army of volunteers help to build upon and improve our coastal areas as fantastic places to spend time.

“I would encourage others to follow their shining example and get involved, whether in one of the many existing projects or to get inspired and start one in your own area. Perhaps you know of a stretch of overgrown waterway or corner of our coastline which would really benefit from some TLC. We want to hear from you.”

Chair of the Committee for the Environment, Anna Lo said: “It is only right that we take the time to recognise and appreciate the enthusiasm and hard work of our volunteers. Each volunteer devotes so much of their spare time to improve, protect and enhance our natural environment; so that we can all enjoy the benefits that that brings. Their commitment and work should not be underestimated.”

Dr Ian Humphreys, Chief Executive of Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful, said: “Our long-standing relationship with Coca-Cola to reward the hard work, community spirit and sheer persistence of volunteers who regularly clean up our coast and inland waterways is simply inspiring. At this event we take a little time to celebrate the achievements of passionate ‘can-do’ people to keep Northern Ireland’s shores, loughs, canals and rivers beautiful. Through their freely given time it is obvious they really do live here and love here. To everyone involved, well done and thank you.”

Gillian Shields, Community Engagement Manager, Coca-Cola HBC Northern Ireland said: “We are delighted to partner with Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful and support the Clean Coast and Coast Care programmes. These awards recognise and reward the tremendous contribution and practical action being taken by individual and groups across Northern Ireland in looking after our much treasured beaches and waterways. Congratulations to all the beach managers and local communities from around Northern Ireland on achieving these prestigious awards."

John McGrillen, Chief Executive, Tourism NI, said; “Northern Ireland boasts some of the most spectacular coastline in Europe and this is one of our greatest tourism assets. Volunteers and community groups make a huge contribution to taking care of our coast and we are delighted that that these efforts are being recognised through the Coast Care Awards. Tourism NI is again proud to sponsor the Community Contribution to Tourism Award and the Picture Perfect Award.”

List of Coca-Cola Coast Care Award Winners 2015 Award Winners:

• Coca-Cola Coast Care Group

Love Your Lough (Newry, Mourne and Down District Council)

• Coca-Cola Inland Waterway Group

TRAAD Wildlife & Conservation Club (Mid Ulster District Council)

• Brighter Futures

Mill Strand Integrated Primary School (Causeway Coast and Glens District Council)

• Better Business Partnership

Translink Downpatrick (Newry, Mourne and Down District Council)

• Community Contribution to Tourism Award (Tourism Northern Ireland)

Grey Point Fort Amateur Radio Society (Ards and North Down District Council)

• Youth in Action

James Burke, IWAI Newry and Portadown Branch (Newry, Mourne and Down District Council)

• Local Hero

Dan Lavery, Longline Surf School (Causeway Coast and Glens District Council)

• Picture Perfect (Tourism Northern Ireland)

David McKechnie

Recipients of Live Here Love Here Coca-Cola Community Grant Scheme

1. Environment Support Team (Causeway Coast and Glens/Mid and East Antrim)

2. Newry & Portadown branch Inland Waterway Association Ireland