Twenty students from Kinsale Community School (KCS) have conducted their second annual beach clean, with discarded fishing rope and plastic cotton bud stems among the top items collected. Eight bags of marine litter were removed from Garrettstown and Garrylucas beaches by the students last Friday (17 May 2019) as part of the school’s wellness programme, organised by head prefects.
Speaking on the KCS Big Beach Clean, John Walsh, Kinsale Community School student and fifth year head prefect said: “In March, the students of Kinsale joined over a million young people globally for the Fridays for Future movement, calling for more ambitious action on climate change. This is our future — our generation are standing up and taking action to ensure a difference can be made. Our annual KCS Big Beach Clean is one small way that we are helping, making a tangible and immediate improvement to the beautiful beaches that Kinsale is so proud of.
“Interestingly, we collected 50% less litter this year compared to last year. We believe that this is due, in part, to greater public awareness on reducing marine litter and campaigns like #2minutebeachcleans and Take Three for the Sea. However, eight bags of litter is still eight bags too many. We implore everyone to think about their own plastic pollution to minimise their use of single-use plastic, and consider  simple actions like taking three pieces of rubbish with them when they leave the beach. Together, we can all make a difference.”

The KCS Big Beach Clean is one of a number of community-focused activities in the school’s wellness programme. In March, a pay it forward campaign saw more than 500 daffodils distributed by KCS students to members of the public in Kinsale town.