Communities across Ireland come together to launch National Spring Clean 2022

This year the theme of community pride is at the forefront of the campaign with The National Spring Clean urging people of all ages to gather friends, family, classmates, neighbors or colleagues to unite in cleaning their shared green spaces together.

National Spring Clean 2021 was the biggest and the longest campaign so far, taking place between March and August, and despite the current situation and restrictions at the start of the year, 5,543 groups registered to carry out clean-ups throughout the country and collected an estimated 3,000 tonnes of litter around Ireland. 

This year, the campaign is on track to make 2022’s National Spring Clean campaign the biggest yet with the organisation already surpassing the number of registrations they had gained this time last year. 

The National Spring Clean is an opportunity for volunteers to take local actions to make a change at a global scale as combined local actions can have a global effect on how we dispose and treat our waste. This has a substantial impact on the levels of emissions of several greenhouse gases which contribute to climate change. For those who would like to organise a clean-up please log on to the National Spring Clean website: www.nationalspringclean.org to request a free clean-up kit.

Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications, Eamon Ryan TD, said:

“The statistics for what the National Spring Clean achieves every year are staggering and are a real testament to the energy, drive and community commitment of volunteers up and down the country who come out and work hard together to protect, enhance and clear up our local environments. It’s unpaid, largely unsung and often unseen work that improves the quality of life for all of us. I would like to salute your work and express my gratitude for the hours of selfless volunteer work that help make National Spring Clean such a critical part of the annual environmental calendar here. I would also like to acknowledge the key role played by An Taisce in overseeing the campaign. My Department will continue to provide support to the campaign and I look forward to the many events that will be held countrywide.”

National Spring Clean Manager, Emlyn Cullen, commented:

“The Spring Clean has always been a community initiative as much as anti-litter campaign. Communities big and small come together to do their bit for their local area. It can be a couple of neighbours doing their road or a whole town with multiple organizations joining together to do a massive clean-up. These collective efforts bring people together and create tremendous social capital.”

Mars Wrigley Ireland Corporate Affairs Manager, Nicola Forde added: 

“The National Spring Clean is a shining example of an initiative that successfully engages communities across the country behind one common purpose – to keep Ireland clean and green. Mars Wrigley Ireland are proud to support programmes like the National Spring Clean that align with our own ambition to reduce litter and waste, something we’ve been championing for more than 15 years in Ireland.”

To make sure that each community clean up can run as smoothly as possible the National Spring Clean has also provided various downloadable information packs on their website for their volunteers to read. The clean-up information pack containing details on how to organise an event, health and safety information, litter facts, useful contacts, media and publicity advice, a guide on how to recycle and information on litter and the law. 

For those who would like to organise a clean-up please log on to the National Spring Clean website at www.nationalspringclean.org to request a free clean-up kit.