We can't guarantee the weather but you can be sure of a cuppa & a bun after the clean-up! (Biscuit Cake, of 'Runkerry Summer Madness CITO' fame, may also make an appearance). Make the most of this out of season opportunity to boost your CITO count! With it being holiday time your efforts would be especially appreciated.
Meet on the green at the car park. Litter pickers, gloves, hi-vis vests, bags etc will be provided on the day.
The CITO is being organised in conjunction with TIDY NI who have been monitoring the level of beach litter at fourteen beaches in Northern Ireland, one of which is at Ballywalter. Beach litter surveys are carried out at set times, four times a year, to assess the type and amount of litter on each beach. The results are reported back to the OSPAR Commission. This is their last litter count & clean up on this beach as part of the survey.
The OSPAR Commission run a programme with fifteen countries within Europe to co-operate to protect the marine environment of the North East Atlantic. The data collected is vitally important as it will help provide an overview of the problem of marine litter not only in Northern Ireland but across the whole of North East Atlantic. The data will then be used to help to formulate solutions to address the problem of marine litter.
To meet the programme criteria, each beach needs to be cleared of rubbish following each survey to ensure that items are not counted twice and that is where our CITO comes in!
There may also be a sand sculpting and (possibly) an opportunity to teach a few muggles to geocache afterwards - details to follow.
Hope you can join us!