Repak  

An Taisce National Spring Clean

Organised by An Taisce and funded by the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, the National Spring Clean campaign has been making Ireland a cleaner place to live since 1998. It is Ireland’s largest and most popular anti-litter initiative.

The campaign encourages every sector of society to actively participate and take responsibility for litter, by conducting clean-ups in their local areas. The National Spring Clean is traditionally run throughout the ‘spring’ month of April, to kick start the national conscience and to highlight the problem of litter as summer approaches.

The key objectives of the 2009 campaign were to:

• Encourage clean-ups throughout the month of April.
• Promote sustained, practical involvement in looking after the environment.
• Heighten awareness of litter and waste issues.
• Highlight the importance of recycling and re-use in the wider context.
  

The success of National Spring Clean depends on the help and support of all the people who take part. Your event, no matter how small, will be a positive step towards looking after our environment for the future.

Repak has been sponsoring National Spring Clean since 2005. The main objective of the sponsorship is to increase the recycling rates of the litter collected. This is achieved through the provision of Repak sponsored colour coded bags to all volunteers for the collection of recyclable cans and plastic bottles. We are pleased to say that in 2009, 35% of all litter collected was recycled, the equivalent of 630 tonnes. According to the Minister for the Environment, John Gormley, TD; National Spring Clean "encourages people to work together to create a cleaner environment and plays a vital role in improving quality of life by empowering people to take responsibility for, and have pride in, their local areas".

The 2009 National Spring Clean was a resonding success. Participation rates increased by over 10% from 2008 with over 505,000 volunteers taking part in some 5,058 events. An estimated 1,800 tonnes of litter was collected with 35% recycled.

Well done to everyone who participated. For more information log onto the National Spring Clean website.