Limerick Clare Kerry Regional Waste Management Office as set up an Eco Pledge Programme for people to make a pledge to improve their environmental behaviour.
Sometimes we feel overwhelmed by environmental issues and helpless to do anything about it. The Eco Pledge system makes it easy, people can choose an action that they can easily do and take the Eco-Pledge. Small changes in behaviour can have a huge impact when combined with thousands of like-minded people.
Pledges can be made to:
- Choose Tap Water
- Say no to paper bags
- Make a shopping list and stick to it
- Use both sides of the page
- Invest in rechargable batteries
- Repair and customize you clothes
- Say no to junk mail
- Choose less packaging
- Re-use Stuff
- Raise Awareness
Click here to make a pledge (or four)
LCK RWMO have also made a brilliant video showing how the pledge can work in reality, with students from Crescent College on the streets of Limerick – check it out!
Corca Dhuibne Glas, in conjunction with the EPA Local Authority Prevention Network (LAPN) programme and the Regional Waste Management Office are delighted to announce that 26 companies on the Dingle Peninsula have been awarded the Corca Dhuibhne Glas – Dingle Peninsula Eco award.
Corca Dhuibhne Glas – Dingle Peninsula Eco Award is an environmental training and consultancy programme which was launched in May 2010 The programme is supported locally by: Dingle Peninsula Tourism, MFG, Údarás na Gaeltachta, Dingle Chamber of Commerce, Kerry County Council, Transition Town Corca Dhuibhne.
The award was open to all businesses on the Dingle Peninsula to join and the initiative is geared specifically for small to medium enterprises. Through participation in this local award scheme the businesses involved engaged in the programme to reduce and implement best practice in waste management, lower energy consumption and reduce their water usage. Thus reducing costs to the businesses while lessening the companies impact on the environment.
The companies are also rewarded for encouraging the use of local produce and products, encouraging environmental transport options, appointing a green team and setting out a environmental improvement policy for their business showing how they are constantly looking for ways to improve. The businesses will also receive acknowledgement from customers & staff of a progressive business concerned with their environment, compliance with environmental standards and legislation and training for the staff in best practices in waste management.
The businesses involved were inspected in June by an independent auditor appointed by the LAPN / EPA to oversee the Programme. 33 Businesses in total are taking part and following the audit procedure 26 Companies were successful and have received the Corca Dhuibhne Glas award.
Successful businesses are entitled to display the Corca Dhuibhne Glas Award mark demonstrating their commitment to environmental best practice in the locality. This award will be recognised by all agencies and will be a vital tool in promoting business in a growing environmentally conscience market.
It is planned to hold the official awards ceremony during the ‘Dingle Food and Wine festival’ from 30th Sept- 02nd Oct.
The initiative is part of an overall ambition to get “Green destination” status for the Dingle Peninsula and to develop the peninsula as a leader in Green Area Tourism and Green business development.
Look out for the ‘Gradam Feabhais’ Sticker in participating businesses throughout the Peninsula.
Any companies interested in joining the programme can contact cdg.glas@gmail.com or call: Lorcan Slattery on 086 1737944
The LAPN Events and Locations Working Group met in Portlaoise in January 2011, to discuss its plans for 2011, create synergies, share resources among the group and build upon the successes of 2010.
The group includes: Sharon Carroll, Galway City Council (Sharon.Carroll@galwaycity.ie); Michéal OCoileáin, Kerry County Council (mocoilea@kerrycoco.ie); Pauline McDonagh, Limerick County Council ; Sinead Fox, Cavan County Council (sfox@cavancoco.ie); Mary Stack, Cork County Council (Mary.stack@corkcoco.ie); and Sinéad Ní Mhainnín, Galway County Council (snimhain@GalwayCoCo.ie). The Working Group is faciliated by the Clean Technology Centre, as part of the LAPN.
Click on picture to see full size
In Galway there is a plan to green the Galway Arts Festival in 2011. It is an annual 2 week event that runs in July. There are 6 main venues (these will be the focus of the key LAPN work this year) and the local committee and council are very interested in the proposal. As it is an annual event there is a desire to start this year and then build on the work each year. Some areas of the city have already been active in greening their localities.
In Kerry, there are a number of festivals around the county this year but the main focus would be the Dingle Food Festival in October. The festival includes 50 food serving venues around the town as well as dedicated food markets. Disposable food packaging would be a primary target as well as waste segregation and the development of usable data. Work will also continue in Killarney National Park.
In Limerick and Clare the main work already done relates to Thomond Park and the Cliffs of Moher and reusable and compostable packaging has been a focus for these.
In Cavan, there were many good experiences and findings from the 2010 Green Fleadh – An Fleadh Ghlais. The local authority is hoping for some new ideas in 2011 to build upon them. Committee commitment was of huge importance from the beginning and this commitment was put in action from the start with regard to paper and leaflet use. In addition to waste there was a big push to reduce leaks as well as issuing hippo bags for toilets. Over 60 businesses were involved. A lot of PR was generated – radio, tv, local papers. The launch was a very important kick off and gave the green initiatives a public profile – made them real too. All involved then signed up to a charter (commitment to greening the fleadh) and these business were then given support.
The fleadh was carbon neutral and this was achieved by off setting the carbon impact by planting oak trees.
In Cork The Midelton Food Festival was the focus for 2010. It is well established and though it is just a 1 day festival there is usually about 15,000 people there. 100 stall holders participate and in recent years there has been an environmental awareness campaign with specific adverts about travel to and from the festival. They also have a puppeteer who provides information about waste during the festival. There are environmental messages all over the festival especially at the waste stations and this worked really well in the past.
The main focus areas to date have been:
1. Travel
2. Awareness raising
3. Stall holders
In 2011 further plans relate to new work in Fota Island Wildlife Park. Much of the experiences form the Cliffs of Moher may well be transferable. This has been a great benefit.
In Galway County other activities are also planned regarding small localised festivals all year long where litter is a problem for the towns involved. A set of guidelines for festival organisers to reduce the impact would be a very useful tool for this kind of event.
The group is also hoping to build upon the experiences of the greening of the Wexford Arts Festival in 2010.
James Hogan, CTC, outlined the work done on developing a green events guide for Failte Ireland, and on the greening of the Wexford Festival of Opera. Based on this and ongoing work, it was decided by the Working Group that a concerted effort would be put into the development of guidelines and norms, which could be applicable to events throughout the country.
Posters have been produced to summarise the individual projects of the Local Authority Prevention Demonstration (LAPD) and Local Authority Prevention Network (LAPN) programmes. Click on the images to see the full posters and more information:
The following posters also summarise the whole programme – click on the images to learn more:
