Over two tonnes of rubbish were collected during a recent Clean Up of the Eglinton Canal and Claddagh Basin.
Galway City Council and Clean coasts held the clean-up event recently as part of the Ocean Conservancy project.
The rubbish gathered included over two tonnes of litter, and material including three bicycles and two tonne bags of glass bottles, drinking glasses and drink cans.
As part of this project the Lower Eglinton Canal and Claddagh Basin were drained and litter removed by a professional contractor.
Tiarnan McCusker, Environmental Awareness Officer with Galway City Council said, ’’ Unfortunately, there has been an environmental cost to the outdoor lifestyles adopted during the pandemic.”
“From the recent clean-up, we took out a huge amount of pint glasses, beer and wine bottles, bikes and even shopping trolleys.”
“We all need to do our bit and use the bins provided in the City and not throw anything into the watercourses. Many thanks to Clean Coasts and the Ocean Conservancy for funding this initiative.’’
Every year during Ocean Conservancy’s International Coastal Cleanup™, hundreds of thousands of volunteers comb lakes, rivers and beaches around the world for litter.
For over three decades, more than 12 million volunteers have collected more than 100 million kg’s of rubbish.
The project aims to tackle the amount of rubbish that ends up in our ocean, threatening ocean wildlife through ingestion and entanglement.
Dara Dever, Clean Coasts Officer with An Taisce, said that this “helps us reach an area we wouldn’t normally be able to clean.”
“This has removed a significant amount of litter from our waterways and stop it breaking down further.”
“It’s very important that we respect the city’s waterways by never dumping litter in them or leaving waste in a position where it will end up in the water.’’
