A Kerry secondary school has been named as an ambassador in a campaign to reduce sewage-related litter.
Pobalscoil Inbhear Scéine in Kenmare was one of a number of schools across Munster and Connaught taking part in the "Think Before You Flush" campaign.
The school is part of the Green Schools Water Ambassador programme and were tasked to spread the Think Before You Flush message throughout their school and community.
The movement is operated by Clean Coasts in partnership with Uisce Éireann, emphasises the importance of appropriate flushing behaviour.
The "Think Before You Flush" campaign, operated by Clean Coasts in partnership with Uisce Éireann, emphasises the importance of appropriate flushing behaviour and disposal of items including wipes and other sanitary products in the bin, even if they are labelled as flushable. Only the 3 Ps, pee, poo and paper should be flushed down the toilet. When items such as wet wipes are flushed down the toilet, they can cause serious blockages in sewage systems, causing sewage overflows and ultimately polluting our coastal waters and beaches.
Ollie O’Flaherty from Clean Coasts spoke to the students about the importance of only flushing the 3 P’s down the toilet. He also discussed the Think Before You Pour campaign that looks at the issue of pouring fats, oils, and greases (FOGs) from cooking down the kitchen sink. Instead of flowing freely, FOG’s cool and harden as they travel along the wastewater network. When FOGs combine with sewage related litter such as wipes, hair and dental floss fatbergs can form. Uisce Éireann clears thousands of blockages, including fatbergs, from the wastewater network every year. The Think Before Pour campaign urges everyone to avoid washing FOGs down the kitchen drain and, instead, dispose of them in the bin once cool.
Speaking about the evening Ollie said: “We were delighted to be involved with the Water Ambassador Training and we would like to thank Green Schools for inviting us to be part of this event. It was a great opportunity to engage with the students about the the Think Before You Flush and Think Before You Pour campaigns and the importance of making responsible decisions in the bathroom and kitchen.
Uisce Éireann’s Head of Wastewater Operations, Nuala Woods, is thrilled that schools across Munster and Connacht are taking the initiative to promote and advocate for responsible waste management practices: “These workshops are crucially important to enhance awareness about the need to protect our precious environment. Many of these items discarded down the toilets of Ireland can end up in our streams, rivers, and on our beaches, creating a significant threat to wildlife as seabirds often ingest plastic and sewage related litter, mistaking it for food.”
Think Before You Flush is a public awareness campaign highlighting the problems caused by flushing sanitary products and other items down the toilet. Think Before You Pour is a section of the Think Before You Flush campaign, highlighting the problems caused by pouring fats, oils, and greases (FOGs) down the sink. Consequences include the formation of fatbergs, which are very large masses of solid waste in a sewerage system, consisting of congealed fat and personal hygiene products that have been flushed down toilets. This causes blockages in our household plumbing and our wastewater network.
The campaign is operated by An Taisce’s Clean Coasts programme in partnership with Uisce Éireann and has been running since 2015. Each year, the campaign runs regionally in cities, towns and villages across Ireland. The campaign works with the local community, businesses, and schools to promote changes in flushing behaviour through workshops, events, and clean ups. The goal of the campaign is to encourage people to always #thinkb4uflush and #thinkbeforeyoupour.
Clean Coasts is a charity programme, run through the Environmental Education Unit of An Taisce, which engages communities in the protection of Ireland’s beaches, seas and marine life.
Since 2003, Clean Coasts has been working with communities to help protect and care for Ireland’s waterways, coastline, seas, ocean and marine life. Clean Coasts strives to create tangible and immediate improvements to Ireland’s marine environment, supporting thousands of volunteers in removing large quantities of marine litter from our coastline each year.
For the past 20 years, Clean Coasts has grown from strength to strength and now includes two main national clean-up drives, as well as other initiatives, including the Green Coast Award, the Love Your Coast Photography competition, the Clean Coasts Roadshows for coastal communities and the Ocean Hero Awards. All these initiatives are aimed at celebrating the beauty of our coast and the efforts of our volunteers across all of Ireland.
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 and corporate 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.}
