Gum Litter Roadshow rolls into Macroom
"Bin your gum, when your done" and avoid a €150 fine
Pictured with the Deputy Mayor of the County of Cork, Cllr Martin Coughlan are Sheila Murphy, Macroom Tidy Towns, with pupils from St. Colman's Boys NS and St. Joseph's Primary, Rory and Sadhbh. Pic: Diane Cusack
As part of its Summer Roadshow campaign, the Gum Litter Taskforce visited Macroom on Tuesday 10th June to promote positive gum litter disposal. The aim of the campaign is to highlight the importance of proper litter disposal through fun education and awareness initiatives that highlight the negative environmental impacts of chewing gum litter and draw attention to the €150 gum litter fine.
Cork County Council collaborated on the campaign over the last number of years with the Roadshow visiting Mallow, Youghal, Fermoy and Bantry. A collaboration with the Tidy Towns and the local schools ensures that the campaign has a wide reach within the town and county.
The taskforce reports that gum litter has reduced by almost 70% since 2007 and that 92% of people report properly disposing of their chewing gum. However, according to the latest research 1 in 12 admit they still drop their gum on the ground, with men more than twice as likely to do so than women.
The Gum Litter Taskforce is a collaboration between Food Drink Ireland, the Department of Environment, Climate and Communications, the chewing gum industry, and local authorities to achieve a long-term sustainable solution to the irresponsible disposal of chewing gum litter.
Reducing single use plastics at the Stephen Ireland Astroturf Pitch in Cobh
Bring your reusable bottles to matches and training!
Pictured are Anna Aherne and Ruth Ring from Cobh Tidy Towns at the Stephen Ireland Astroturf water refill station
A new water refill station has been installed at the Stephen Ireland Astroturf Pitch in Cobh in an effort to reduce single use plastics as part of the Cobh Green Hub Project.
Supported by Cork County Council, the Cobh Green Hub Project is a collaboration with Cobh Tidy Towns, Cobh Zero Waste, Cobh Sustainable Communities, Cobh & Harbour Chamber and the Southern Region Waste Management Planning Office. Selected as one of six pilots nationally, the project aims to foster a community led approach to drive local activity on circular economy and climate action.
In 2023, some 18,800 single use plastic bottles were collected at the all-weather Stephen Ireland Astroturf pitch, which facilitates training and matches all year round for hundreds of local people, visiting school teams and athletic events. Local clubs using the facility include Cobh Wanderers, Springfield Ramblers, Cobh Ramblers, Cobh Ramblers Academy and Springfield A.F.C the facility.
Green Flag Awards 2025
Congratulations to all 68 schools in Cork County
Deputy Mayor of the County of Cork, Cllr. Sheila O’Callaghan with Liam, Aine and Harry, pupils from Dripsey National School.
68 schools across all eight of Cork County’s Municipal Districts were awarded Green Flags as part of An Taisce’s Green Schools Programme. Of the 68 schools, it included 58 primary schools, 9 secondary schools and 1 adult education centre.
The awards recognise outstanding efforts by both primary and secondary schools across a wide range of environmental themes including litter and waste, biodiversity, energy, global citizenship, and marine care.
The Green Schools Programme, now in its 27th year, is a student-led programme with involvement from the wider community, that promotes and acknowledges long-term, whole-school action for the environment. An Taisce operates Green Schools in Cork County in partnership with Cork County Council. The programme operates in 92% of Irish schools and involves a two-year process focused on each key sustainability theme. Schools must demonstrate long-term commitment and measurable impact to be granted a Green Flag.
A huge congratulations to all the schools, students and teachers for all their hard work.
National Food Waste Recycling Week 2025
Reduce contamination and say no to bin intruders
Ireland’s fourth National Food Waste Recycling Week took place from the 1st to the 8th June 2025. With over 200,000 new brown bins rolled out nationwide since the start of 2024, bringing the total number of brown bin owners across Ireland to approximately 1.2 million, householders in Ireland are embracing food waste recycling like never before. However, a recent study of over 1,000 adults reveals that despite widespread brown bin usage, contamination remains a concern, potentially compromising the quality of compost and hindering our efforts towards a circular economy.
The research, conducted by Empathy Research on behalf of MyWaste, Ireland’s official guide to managing your waste, found that while the vast majority of people use their brown bin (84%), confusion and occasional haste can at times lead to incorrect items being disposed of in the brown bin.
The aim of the campaign is to highlight the contamination in the brown bins, including the three main offenders which are plastic packaging on vegetables, general waste and stones/rocks. The campaign also gives tips on how to manage your brown bin so that you are more likely to use it.
Congratulations to Coláiste na Toirbhirte
Winning the National Best Research Award at the Relove Fashion Grand Final
Pictured are students from Coláiste na Toirbhirt, Bandon with judge Laura de Barra, author of No.1 bestsellers Garment Goddess, Gaff Goddess and Decor Galore.
Coláiste na Toirbhirte, Bandon took the National Best Research Award at the first ever national Relove Fashion Grand Final which took place on April 30th at the Rediscovery Centre in Ballymun. Relove Fashion is a Sustainable Fashion competition open to young people of secondary school age across Ireland. The competition was developed and is funded through a partnership between the Regional Waste Management Planning Offices, The Government of Ireland and the Rediscovery Centre, Ireland’s National Centre for the Circular Economy and is supported locally by Cork County Council.
Two submissions from Cork County, both from Coláiste na Toirbhirte, were selected to represent Cork County as Finalists for this year’s Competition.
As a counter-movement to challenge fast fashion, the competition encourages teenage designers from across the country to showcase innovative, upcycled outfits made entirely from preloved textiles - transforming everything from old cushion covers to moth-eaten berets into stylish, wearable fashion. This year marked the competition’s expansion to 26 local authority areas, where over 400 young people aged 12–19 across Ireland were encouraged to rethink fast fashion and embrace creativity, building skills in reuse, repair, and redesign.
Congratulations to the students from Coláiste na Toirbhirte on reaching the final and winning the Best Research Award.
Rubbish Film Festival Awards 2025
Schull Community College win overall award in Cork County
Pictured are Naoise Hegarty, Loreto Secondary School Fermoy, Daragh Walsh, Douglas Community College, JD Fitzgerald, Terence McSwiney Community College, Chloe-Ann O'Callaghan, Schull Community College, Skye Andrews, Mount Mercy College, Thea Harris-Murph Murphy, Mayfield Community College, and Carly Coughlan, St. Mary's Charleville.
Hundreds of Transition Year (TY) students from across Cork County and City gathered at Fota Wildlife Park’s Education, Conservation and Research Centre on Monday, 31st March, to celebrate their achievements at the 2025 Rubbish Film Festival Awards.
The Rubbish Film Festival, an award-winning national initiative, challenges TY students to create one-minute films tackling key environmental issues, including climate change, sustainability, and waste reduction. The festival, jointly funded by Cork County Council and Cork City Council, empowers young people in Cork to use digital storytelling to raise awareness and drive action.
At the Awards, students took centre stage to showcase their work and inspire further action in environmental education.
Congratulations to all the winners from Cork County as follows:
Best Film Award - Schull Community College for their film ‘Playing for Time’.
Runner Up Award - St Mary’s Secondary School, Charleville
Poster Competition - Loreto Secondary School, Fermoy
Special Impact Award - St Mary’s Secondary School, Mallow
Cork GAA Community Clean Up Day
An earlier date this year to coincide with National Spring Clean
Pictured are, Ian Maguire, Cork Senior Football, Erika O'Shea, Cork Senior Ladies Football, Cllr Patrick Mulcahy, Deputising for the Mayor of the County of Cork, Orlaith Cahalane, Cork Senior Camogie and Ethan Twomey, Cork Senior Hurling, at the launch of 2025 Cork Gaa Community Clean Up Day. Picture Jim Coughlan
Following the success of the inaugural Cork GAA Clean Up Day in 2024, the event was run on the earlier date of 12th April this year, to coincide with National Spring Clean. This community-focused event, in partnership with Cork County Council, Cork City Council and An Taisce, saw players, coaches, officials and supporters come together to clean up their chosen locations across Cork.
74 clubs in Cork registered which included an estimated 1,500 - 2,000 particpants of all ages and the findings from this years event were similar to 2024 as follows:
- Each club collected an average of 20 - 40 bags of waste.
- Majority of waste collected was classed as general waste.
- Mainly consisted of drink cups, wrappers, packaging, plastic bottles, and cigarette butts, along with some green waste.
This year’s initiative also saw regional recycling companies get involved, with Panda Recycling, KWD Recycling, Country Clean Recycling and Wiser Recycling collecting the gathered litter directly from club facilities. All participating clubs were provided with litter pickers, gloves, bags and hi-vis vests.
25 beaches in Cork County awarded Blue and Green Flags
Cork County Council will be raising 25 Blue and Green Flags over county beaches in 2025. These beaches have been recognised by An Taisce with 11 Blue Flags and 14 Green Coast Awards for 2025, as well as two Blue Flags for Marinas.
The prestigious awards were presented at a special ceremony in Curracloe, Co Wexford by Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, James Browne TD.
The Blue Flag Beaches are Barleycove; Fountainstown; Garretstown; Garrylucas, White Strand; Inchydoney East Beach; Inchydoney West Beach; Owenahincha, Little Island Strand; Redbarn; Tragumna; Youghal Front Strand; and Youghal, Claycastle.
The County Cork recipients of Green Coast Awards are Ardnahinch, Shanagarry; Garnish Beach, Lehanmore; Ballynamona Beach; Sherkin Island, Silver Strand Beach; Ballyrisode; Cadogan's Strand; Dooneen Pier; Rocky Bay; Fountainstown Beach; Ring; Galley Cove; Red Strand; Oysterhaven; and Inchydoney East. Kinsale Marina and Royal Cork Yacht Club Marina also retained their Blue Flag status.
On the issue of public health and safety, please note that Inch beach has been removed from the 2025 monitoring calendar for water safety reasons (rip tides). Also, for water safety reasons (shifting river channels) laboratory staff will not be sampling Coolmaine. Coolmaine remains on the 2025 monitoring calendar, but for visual inspection only, with a review/decision to be completed for the 2026 season.
In the meantime, we look forward to monitoring all our 29 beaches in the 2025 season, and hope that it is a safe, enjoyable and successful season for all.
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