1. Team Limerick Clean-Up
TLC 9 was another amazing Good Friday in Adare with over 60 volunteers out picking litter, cleaning signs, cleaning up the wash pool area and fountain and Turf Quay. We had a volunteer group from Adare Manor join us for the morning and we enjoyed a lovely cuppa and chat in the Hall after the cleanup. This is an annual event and we look forward to it each year. The event is sponsored by JP McManus and is a Limerick County wide initiative. Mr Binman Bin Collection Company collect the litter from each collection point throughout the county and bring it to their recycling facility for separation. Registration for the event is online and safety training is provided in person and online. Packs of litter pickers, high viz jackets, hand sanitizer and gloves are given to each registered group. Tea bags, coffee and hot cross buns are provided and this year approx. 22,500 volunteers took part.
2. Daily/Weekly Litter Picking
Our ATT volunteers continue to carry out weekly litter pick with teams appointed to collect litter each weekend. We have a group of ladies who go on daily litter picks and enjoy a leisurely stroll while keeping our streets litter free. There is always a cuppa after the litter picks and is often sponsored by the businesses in the village. Limerick City and County Council (LCCC) outdoor staff empty the bins 4 times per week or more often if needed. All litter is that is gathered by volunteers is collected by LCCC outdoor staff and is brought to a recycling facility.
ATT volunteers meet up each Thursday evening to carry out projects and clean ups throughout Adare. Liam, Barry and Dave carry out a survey at the beginning of April to compile a list of projects that need to be done to keep our village looking good during the year. We spend an evening in each of the estates and residential areas and usually the residents of these areas help us out on the night. These evenings are great social evenings where the craic is mighty while we get work done. We get great praise from residents of Adare and tourists are always interested to hear about Tidy Towns and how we are all volunteers, giving our time to look after our village. We are so lucky to have the 2020 club in Adare as these ladies take part in our clean up evenings and take responsibility for the Washpool and Fountain areas.
Our rota:
Clean Up – River Walk Area
Cleaned up and improved many areas, in particular we cleaned up on the river walk.
3. Educational Videos
Shown both online and throughout 4 schools in Adare to educate the impacts of waste and litter has on the world. These are shown online to promote tidiness and titter control and make people be careful and responsible when disposing their unwanted items. Little resources is needed to do this and is quite sustainable.
2 Go Cup Launch
Adare Town Park has proudly raised its first Green Flag, a symbol of excellence in the management of public parks and green spaces.
This prestigious award is part of the Green Flag for Parks Award Scheme, an international standard recognising best practices in sustainable park management.
An Taisce Environmental Education awarded Green Flags to 120 parks, gardens, greenways, and wildlife sanctuaries across Ireland, including Adare Town Park and two more parks managed by Limerick City and County Council.
The Green Flag for Parks Award Scheme evaluates parks based on eight criteria:
- A Welcoming Place
- Healthy, Safe and Secure
- Well Maintained and Clean
- Environmental Management
- Biodiversity, Landscape and Heritage
- Community Involvement
- Marketing and Communication
- Management
Don’t Waste an Opportunity….
In honour of the United Nation’s International day of Zero Waste, we are asking yo
Other Projects
Reducing Waste in Adare & increasing composting
The Tidy Towns Committee are working with Greensource, a renewable energy company based in the town. We are undertaking an ambitious project to firstly reduce food waste, and secondly, to ensure that any food and organic garden waste generated is segregated from household waste before it is presented for kerb-side collection.
The Steps:
First things first, we needed to know how much food waste was being generated in the town and what was happening to it. There are two waste collection services available in Adare, one sends food waste to an Anaerobic Digestion (AD) Plant and the other sends food waste to be composted.
Food waste is a significant fraction of the waste stream collected annually. In 2020 a total of 8,270 tonnes of organic food waste was collected in County Limerick. This is 42kg for very person in County Limerick, and approximately 57,000kg (57t) of food and organic waste is generated in Adare town every year!
We contacted the waste collection companies and found out that approximately 27 tonnes per year is sent to the AD plant and the rest, about 30 tonnes, is composted.
However, it is estimated that only 60% of food waste is but into the correct bin with the rest going in with general waste. In March we created a leaflet to help people understand how and what to compost. We also included some easy to implement ways to reduce food waste. Buying and throwing out food hurts your pocket as well as the planet and depletes precious resources.
The Circular Economy and Industrial Ecology work off of this principal. In nature nothing is wasted, and it is not so long ago that people would never throw out anything that they could either repair, reuse or repurpose.
Composting food and organic garden waste is an example of converting a waste into a resource and completing natural cycle.
But how does that contribute to the work that Adare Tidy Towns do around the town? Well, food and garden waste are actually a much valued and precious resource. According to waste statistics published by the EPA every household in Ireland in responsible for producing 42kg of organic waste every year. For a town the size of Adare that is a whopping 57,000kg or 57 tonnes of organic waste, so should we say resource every year!!
So, we wondered, were does all of this resource go? What happens to it? If you already compost at home that is great, you are already benefitting from the wonderful fertiliser that composting produces – keep up the good work!
But if you have a brown bin collection your organic waste it is either taken to a Composting Facility or to an Anaerobic Digestion Plant.
The Adare Tidy Town Committee are working with Greensource on a long-term plan to raise awareness of avoidable food waste and to ensure this waste is put in the correct bin so that it can be properly dealt with. We want to show that small changes can make a difference. Over time we will track how much food waste is generated and how that is converted into a resource that reduces the need for imported chemical fertilisers on our other projects around the town such as planting up of flower boxes and flower beds along our beautiful public walkways.
Reducing Household Waste
Running workshops and event on how to reduce household waste. We also displayed handouts and posters of. We got out members to follow this imitative too.
Here are five simple steps you can take to reduce your waste production.
Our Projects
Access all our project here.
