Latest coastal litter results do not reflect well on Donegal communities

Despite Trojan work from local community and Tidy Towns groups, the latest coastal litter survey is not good news for Killybegs and Bundoran.

According to Irish Business Against Litter (IBAL), this latest survey of beaches and harbours has shown Bundoran to be again branded as littered. Killybegs has shown some improvement but is still classed as moderately littered. 

Nationally, litter levels were found to be on the increase, with only eight of 33 areas surveyed receiving ‘clean’ status. This is despite a notable fall-off in Covid-related litter such as face masks. 

Alongside its impact on tourism and recreation, IBAL is warning that coastal litter has grave implications for the future of our planet.       

The An Taisce report for Killybegs harbour stated: “There were substantial improvements noted at the town side of Killybegs, particularly regarding new planters (eg at The picnic tables / seating area) and seemingly less litter in the immediate vicinity of the tourist office.

“There was a variety of litter bin types, some of which were completely closed, preventing the foraging from same. Overall, the site presented well with small litter accumulations (mainly food and alcohol related) along the promenade and in between the rock armour;  cigarette butts / chewing gum were pronounced along the promenade and car parks; there was a notable improvement in the presence of dog fouling compared to last year.

“The removal of litter bins along the promenade during a summer season is somewhat perplexing.”

The popular seaside town of Bundoran has seen a big increase in visitor numbers this year, bringing much-needed business to the town, but also extra challenges for its hard-working community groups.

While the town came in for much praise for some new initiatives, the An Taisce report was scathing in terms of the presence of litter.

The report stated: “There was a very heavy cigarette butt presence along the edges of the promenade and at the seating areas - there were no visible cigarette butt disposal units and signage relating to same in the area. 

“Soft plastic items were found along the tide line, most likely washed in, but it was the litter along the promenade and car park which really brought down the litter grade - this is so preventable and manageable. 

“The overflowing litter bins along the promenade made the problem worse. Some bins had been removed from dog fouling bag dispensing stations and an unsightly broken dog fouling bag dispenser is still in place.”
On a more positive note, the report continued: 

“Hopefully the wall under the lifeguard station will be much enhanced once the artwork is complete; the 'Beach Toy Library' looks like a great scheme - 'Borrow - Play - Return' - this is something that could be rolled out throughout the country; the '2 Minute Beach Clean' Board was in good condition. 

“Some hard-hitting dog fouling signage 'Clean Up after your Dog and Stop Disease' had been defaced.  Black, covered, litter bins, with small apertures (presumably to prevent the deposit of household waste) looked very fresh.”

IBAL’s Conor Horgan expressed his disappointment at the overall results from across the country. 

“Unfortunately the improvement observed at our beaches last year seems to have reversed this time round,” he said.  

“We had hoped that the decline in Covid-related litter might bring an improvement in overall cleanliness, added to the fact that many who staycationed last year would have travelled abroad this summer. Our most popular beaches are not heavily littered, but they’re not as clean as they should be.”     

As well as a fall-off in masks and gloves litter, there has been a significant drop in alcohol-related litter which was linked to lockdown habits. 

However, coffee cups remained a significant litter item, present in half of the areas surveyed. The most common forms of litter found by the assessors were cigarette butts, sweet wrappers and plastic bottles.

“Every day it seems we hear more of the dire consequences which marine litter, much of it plastic, holds for our planet,“ adds Mr Horgan. 

“We need to impress on people that simple individual actions such as discarding a coffee cup – or even a cigarette butt - have implications which stretch beyond the local environment.”  

With 10 million tonnes of plastic ending up in our oceans each year, it is estimated that there will be more plastic than fish in our oceans within 30 years. Research shows a single cigarette butt can contaminate up to 200 litres of water. 

This report will be difficult to swallow for local community groups in Donegal. But it should never have to fall to a handful of volunteers to have to clean up after hundreds of visitors to our beaches and harbours.