Thousands of volunteers from around the South East are taking to the beaches in the region this weekend in the biggest beach clean-up since before the Pandemic.
The annual event, which runs all weekend will see litter being removed from the country's coastal beauty spots.
The yearly beach clean takes places at the end of the bathing season, although didn't happen in 2020 due to the pandemic.
Sinead McCoy from the Environmental Unit of An Taisce says not having the beach clean last year - means more work this year:
"It was devastating for community groups to see how littered beaches got during the pandemic. And it really just was evident how important the tidy towns groups and the community groups are in keeping their areas clean.
We have an issue to tackle this weekend but I think everyone, from all our volunteers and everyone who's registered so far, they're excited to get going."
Despite awareness around recycling and single use plastics, Sinead says it's shocking what they find:
"We still do find a loot of plastic bottles and packaging.
70% of the waste we find on beaches is from land based activities and what we mean by that is it's basically from our normal everyday lives on land. So, packaging on our foods and single use items that are thrown away and they end up on oceans, in our seas and rivers just from people discarding it and littering it."
