“Take 3 for the Sea” anti-litter pledge
“Take 3 for the Sea” is a simple idea: the campaign encourages people to take three pieces of plastic litter with them when they leave the beach, waterway or… anywhere! We in Waterford are lucky to have a variety of beautiful beaches and coastline.
We enjoy our beaches all year round, not just in the summer. And there are a number of groups and individuals who regularly collect litter from the coastline of our county, from Cheekpoint in the east to Whiting Bay in the west.
Plastic pollution cannot be ignored. Plastic is designed to last forever but is often used only once. Poorly managed plastic leaks into the sea and makes up 80% of all marine litter. The plastics that we see on our beaches are just a small part of marine litter. In fact, it’s estimated that 70% of marine litter is on the seabed, 15% is floating in the water column and just 15% is what we see on our beaches.
“Take 3 for the Sea” asks you to put three pieces of plastic in a litter bin or take it home with you to your own bin. Remember: all litter can eventually make its way to the sea, so any cleanup makes a change for the better. A teacher’s handbook has been developed to help both Primary and Secondary School teachers to explore marine litter, plastic pollution and single-use plastics with their class. This provides information on the topics and suggests activities to carry out with your class and will provide a useful starting point to explore this with pupils.
One family in Waterford went out and did a beach clean up earlier this year and you can check how they got on at Family Effort.
