Dive into a #2MinuteBeachClean in Louth this Winter

This month as the people of Louth celebrate the festivities, many will don their scarves and mittens to stroll along Louth’s stunning beaches for family walks and perhaps brave icy sea swims. While out there, Clean Coasts says it warmly encourages all winter wanderers to dive into a #2MinuteBeachClean to protect our amazing ocean and rugged coastline.  

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 to create tangible and immediate improvements to Ireland’s coastal environment, involving thousands of volunteers removing large quantities of marine litter from our coastline each year.   

Recent weather has been truly wild, and studies show that winter storms increase the likelihood of litter washing up on beaches especially in areas close to large ports or river mouths. This litter gathers in the seaweed washed up on beaches, along the sea wall and even in the foot of sand dunes affecting marine life and the natural beach environment.   

This December, thousands of brave souls will take to the sea for their annual Festive Dip and we know in general that Irish people love the outdoors2, so Clean Coasts is asking everyone to show their love for our coastline by incorporating a #2MinuteBeachClean to their winter beach activities. 

Find out more about the #2MinuteBeachClean and get involved at: https://cleancoasts.org/our-initiatives/2minutebeachclean/.

Clean Coasts also urges people to keep their eyes peeled for some more #2MinuteBeachClean promotion on bus stops around Louth over the next couple of weeks!  

For over 20 years, Clean Coasts has been working with communities and volunteers to help protect and care for Ireland’s waterways, coastline, seas, ocean, and marine life, by organising hundreds of beach clean-ups each year, mobilising thousands of volunteers, and removing massive quantities of marine litter from our coastline. Currently, it says, it counts on the work of over 2,000 groups and 40,000 volunteers.   

The #2MinuteBeachClean, which was first developed by the 2 Minute Foundation in the UK, as a really easy way to get involved in protecting our marine environment, and in Ireland it is operated by Clean Coasts.  

With this campaign, Clean Coasts encourages all beach goers to do a #2MinuteBeachClean whenever they visit the beach: simply take two minutes to collect some marine litter you see along the way, share a picture of it on social media to show others how easy it is to make a difference, and dispose of the litter collected correctly. https://cleancoasts.org/our- initiatives/2minutebeachclean/  

With their Enjoy and Protect campaign, Clean Coasts invite people to enjoy and celebrate Ireland’s stunning coastline, but also to protect these natural treasures for future generations to enjoy too, by making more sustainable choices, taking part in beach cleans, or learn more about our micro-volunteering campaigns, such as the #2MinuteBeachClean – carried out in partnership with the 2 Minute Foundation.

As part of the campaign, Clean Coasts has released five free guides containing tips and guidance on how to enjoy our coast, while doing your bit to protect it, which can be found here