Life

Tidy up the coast

COAST Care is a joint initiative by Tidy Northern Ireland and Coca-Cola HBC Northern Ireland aimed at cleaning up beaches, rivers and loughs, with pro-surfer Al Mennie acting as ambassador.

Your support is also needed for Tidy Northern Ireland's focus week, called Clean Coast Week, which will run from July 20-28 with clean ups planned across the region. If you would like to make a difference in your area whether it be a coastal or an inland waterway then you can get involved by getting in touch with TIDY NI by ringing 028 9073 6920 or emailing patricia.magee@tidynorthernireland.org. TIDY NI will be able to support your clean ups with equipment and other means of assistance and you may even be nominated for a prestigious award when the summer is over.

THE Marine Conservation Society (MCS) will be running it's 20th annual Beachwatch Big Weekend beach cleaning event on September 20-23 as part of Ocean Conservancy's International Coastal Clean-up. Last year volunteers, at beaches all over the world, covered a distance of nearly 18,000 miles and collected weird finds ranging from lottery tickets to toothbrushes. In the UK 240 beaches were cleaned covering almost 56 miles. If you would like to get involved in an event that will benefit your favourite beach and help the issue of beach litter globally, visit www.mcsuk.org/beachwatch, email: beachwatch@mcsuk.org or call the Beachwatch team on 019 8956 7807.

THE Republic is joining the Climate and Clean Air Coalition (CCAC). Established last year, the CCAC aims to reduce the impacts of short-lived climate pollutants (or SLCPs), through complementary, short-term measures for tackling climate change. Participants include more than 30 developed and developing countries, as well as representatives of business, environmental NGOs and the scientific research community.