Make a splash with the #2MinuteBeachClean Summer Swim Club
Irish environmental charity Clean Coasts and Fáilte Ireland are inviting beach lovers to join them for a free sea swim and beach clean event series this August to show love for Ireland’s spectacular coast.
With the #2MinuteBeachClean Summer Swim Club, Clean Coasts is encouraging everyone to get out and make a splash on Irish beaches with a dip in the sea followed by a short beach clean as a way to reconnect with nature and blue spaces.
These events coincide with celebrating 10 years of the Wild Atlantic Way, with one taking place on Thursday, August 22, at 6 p.m. on Salthill Beach in Galway – including a swim, a clean-up, a talk from Clean Coasts and a chance to meet other sea swimmers and Clean Coasts volunteers. You can register to secure your place at the event here.
Sea swimming has become hugely popular in Ireland due to the many benefits it offers to both our physical and mental health. It’s a great way to switch off and reconnect with nature. This deep connection fuels our commitment to protecting our coastline and the marine life that inhabits it. What better way to embrace and celebrate the great outdoors than by hopping into the sea!
It’s estimated that every 2 Minute Beach Clean amounts to approximately 1kg of litter removed from the coast. If everyone in Ireland spent two minutes picking litter after their next swim or beach visit, that would be over 5,000 tonnes of litter removed from our marine environment.
Maeve Walsh, Fáilte Ireland environment officer, said: “The Irish coastline and its beaches are an important part of the visitor experience in Ireland. Outdoor water-based activities such as swimming, kayaking and surfing are popular attractors for domestic and international tourists, and our stunning coastline, rivers and lakes are the bedrock upon which Irish tourism has been built.
“As they are now being enjoyed more and more by local communities and visitors it is vital that we all play our part to keep our beaches clean so that they can be enjoyed for years to come.”
Currently, there are over 2,000 registered Clean Coasts volunteering groups and 40,000 volunteers. There are a variety of group types such as community groups, residents’ associations, tidy towns groups, sports clubs, schools, businesses, universities, etc.
Clean Coasts organises hundreds of beach clean-ups annually mobilising thousands of volunteers, removing considerable quantities of marine litter from Ireland’s beaches and waterways.