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Environmental Campaigns

By Waterford City & County Council

Waterford City & County Council rolls out Playful Communities project

Waterford City and County Council is building on the success of its 2024 project, which encouraged healthy and active neighbourhoods.

The Playful Communities initiative encourages children and adults to safely play outdoors, and resident groups and support agencies are invited to apply for participation.

Healthy Waterford and Waterford Sports Partnership, along with key stakeholders including Waterford Area Partnership, Ready Steady Play, Sláintecare Healthy Communities, Waterford Libraries, Waterford PPN, the Community Safety Partnership and the Waterford Child Care Committee are teaming up to begin the rollout of the Playful Communities Initiative for 2025.

Mayor of Waterford City and County, Cllr. Jason Murphy, officially launched the initiative at Carrickphierish Community Sports Hub and Educate Together National School, saying, “The Playful Communities initiative has proven to be an exceptional program, fostering stronger connections amongst residents and underscoring the importance of play and social interaction within our communities.

“Following its success in 2024, I am hopeful that even more communities throughout Waterford will have the opportunity to participate this year.”

Sinéad Breathnach, Head of Waterford City and County Council’s Community and Sports Department, outlined the importance of the Playful Communities approach, saying, “This project serves as a compelling example of how the community sector can effectively support residents in the development of resilient communities, particularly through the activation of accessible activities such as play and recreation.”

Building on last year’s initiative, several Playful Communities will be rolled out within Waterford City and County between May and September 2025.

To receive an application pack and to apply, email eoinmorrissey@waterfordcouncil.ie by February 28th.

By Waterford City & County Council

Waterford Outdoor Recreation Plan Update – Online Survey

Outdoor Recreation Plan - Online Survey

Waterford’s first-ever Outdoor Recreation Plan is currently in development, and we want to hear from you!

An online survey has now been launched, following a series of engaging public meetings, to ensure that as many people as possible can contribute their ideas and priorities for the future of outdoor recreation in Waterford.

The plan is being developed in collaboration with Waterford City and County Council, Waterford Sports Partnership, Waterford Leader Partnership, Fáilte Ireland, Coillte, the National Parks and Wildlife Service, and Get Ireland Walking, with facilitation by Outscape. It aims to promote the enjoyment of outdoor activities across the county while ensuring they remain sustainable, accessible, and inclusive for all.

We encourage everyone with an interest in outdoor recreation – whether you enjoy walking, hiking, cycling, mountain biking, fishing, horse riding, rock climbing, running, orienteering, or a variety of water-based activities such as swimming, surfing, kayaking, stand-up paddleboarding (SUP), canoeing, and sailing—to take part in this survey. Even air-based activities like paragliding and hang gliding are included in the scope of the plan.

By completing this short survey, you can help shape a plan that reflects the natural beauty of Waterford and meets the needs of our diverse outdoor community. This is a fantastic opportunity for the community to come together and co-create a plan that promotes health, well-being, sustainability, and enjoyment for everyone in a vibrant and inclusive outdoor environment for the next five years. Have your say today! Access the survey here: https://arcg.is/1KOGHn1. The closing date is Wednesday 12th February.

The development of this plan is made possible throughfunding from the Department of Rural and Community Development.

For more information, please contact David Abbott, Outdoor Recreation Officer with Waterford Sports Partnership, at 086 1650970 or dabbott@waterfordsportspartnership.ie

ENDS

By Waterford City & County Council

Waterford City and County Council reminds farmers on changes to requirement to use LESS slurry spreading equipment

Waterford City and County Council reminds farmers Low Emission Slurry Spreading (LESS) equipment must be used for the application of slurry on holdings with grassland stocking rates of 100 kg nitrogen per hectare or above from grazing livestock manure.

These new restrictions were brought in under the European Union (Good Agricultural Practice for Protection of Waters) Regulations 2022, which are more commonly known as the GAP regulations.

Adam James, Agricultural Inspector with Waterford City and County Council said that the adoption of LESS equipment for slurry spreading will reduce the negative impacts associated with slurry spreading on the environment and people in the community.

He highlighted the importance of farmers considering the ground and weather conditions to avoid the loss of valuable fertilisers. “All farmers will want to achieve the best value for money, from the use of their fertilisers.  Spreading fertiliser on land prior to heavy rain or on waterlogged fields, will result in the fertiliser running off into watercourses or being lost to groundwater.  This has the double whammy of the fertiliser not being available to encourage plant growth as well as causing pollution in nearby streams and rivers.

“At this time of year, a lot of land is still quite saturated, so farmers should select land which is dry (relatively free draining) and away from surface waters or land drains to receive slurry, if possible, and if not possible extra consideration must be given to buffer distances,” adding, “the slope of fields is also a factor in fertiliser loss, if the ground slopes steeply, factors such as surface runoff pathways, the presence of land drains, the absence of hedgerows to mitigate surface flow, soil condition and ground cover can contribute to fertiliser not staying where the farmer intended.”

Mr James further highlighted the importance of farmers understanding the nutrient requirements of individual parcels of land prior to the application of fertiliser.  “Farmers should work with their agricultural advisors, check their nutrient management plans or soil test results, and consider the Phosphorus (P) and Potassium (K) requirements before applying slurry.  Applying excess slurry to fields does not result in better plant growth, all the extra fertiliser is just lost, either through leaching to groundwater or runoff to watercourses.” 

He also pointed out that leaching of fertilisers to groundwater in vulnerable areas can also affect the quality of drinking water for people with wells nearby concluding, “It’s important for farmers to think about the health of their families and neighbours, when spreading fertiliser and to specially make sure that buffer distances to wells are maintained.”

By Waterford City & County Council

Waterford City and County Council shines spotlight on public lighting

Waterford City and County Council is one of twenty-one Local Authorities taking part in the National Public Lighting Energy Efficiency Project (PLEEP) to upgrade public lighting to LED.

In the Southern region 77,000 public lights will be retrofitted to LED and Waterford City and County Council is working with the lead local authority, Cork County Council, along with partner local authorities in Clare, Kerry and Limerick.

The primary objective of the project is to maximise energy savings, reduce CO2 emissions and enhance efficiency across the public lighting network by replacing the traditional light fittings with LED luminaires.

Projected energy savings of 50% will be made through the retrofitting program and 786 tonnes of CO2 emissions will be saved per year, which will significantly contribute to meeting Waterford City and County Council’s climate action target reduction of 51% in CO2 emissions by 2030.

Funding for the retrofitting of the LED lighting in Waterford is through the Department of Environment’s “Climate Action Fund” and Waterford City and County Council.

The process of retrofitting 10,000 public lights across Waterford city and county began in August last year and is anticipated will be substantially completed by August this year.

Fergus Gleeson, Director of Services, Waterford City and County Council said, “Waterford has set out an extremely ambitious strategy in its Climate Action Plan and this project aligns closely to the goal of establish Waterford as a decarbonisation zone (DZ) by 2040.

“The implementation of PLEEP copper fastens our commitment to reducing energy consumption and associated CO2 emissions. The project will also reduce the incidences of lighting outage when complete and reduce excess lighting with over designed installations.

“With advances in LED technology, the improved public lighting will add to enhanced public safety and an improved visual environment over traditional public lighting,” Mr. Gleeson added.

Le Chéile Lighting Specialist, acting on behalf of Cork County Council as the lead authority, has been contracted to carry out the public lighting works across Waterford city and county.

The company stated that “the works in the most part will present little or no disruption to the public or businesses within your area, and power will not be interrupted. Some deployment of temporary traffic management may be required in areas of high traffic volume or narrow roads to facilitate safe access to streetlights for work crews.”

A secondary objective of the PLEEP is to survey and collect data on the condition of the public lighting infrastructure to enable the region’s local authorities to strategically plan and invest in the upgrading of the public lighting underground infrastructure. This survey work has identified a number of infrastructure issues that need to be addressed before retrofit to LED can be carried out.

Deregulation within the electrical industry in 2009 resulted in Local Authorities taking over ownership from ESB Networks of underground cabling infrastructure servicing public lighting columns. This included concentric cables which had been installed since the 1950’s and represents around 15% of Waterford City and County Council’s public lighting cabling inventory.

Concentric cabling doesn’t comply with current electrical standards and where cable faults occur, the cabling must be replaced in full. As this cabling is at the end of its service life it is prone to faults.

While Waterford City and County Council will make every effort to ensure a timely repair is carried out, the time required to restore these cable faults can be considerable given the necessity to provide new ducts and cables and excavate pavement and footpaths to reinstate same.

The work is site specific and timelines for repair can be more than 3 months because the work is dependent on availability of funding and a specialised contractor. Technical human resources in the private sector are constrained at this moment in time.

In the short term to ensure public lights are repaired as faults occur, Waterford City and County Council will continue to maintain all public lighting and endeavour to keep the incidents of non-functional lights below 2% at any given time.

Public lighting faults can be logged on the Deadsure app or via Waterford City and County Council’s website https://waterfordcouncil.ie/services/roads-transport/public-lighting/

By Waterford City & County Council

Waterford performs strongly in latest IBAL Anti-Litter League

Waterford has emerged as Ireland’s second Cleanest City in the Irish Business Against Litter (IBAL) Anti-Litter League, with Galway replacing Waterford as the cleanest city.

Waterford city ranked 16th out of 40 cities and towns and was classed as Clean to European norms.

Waterford City continues to score very well in the IBAL litter league, and this was very much helped along by seventeen out of the twenty-four sites surveyed getting the top litter grade and there were no litter blackspots.

The report also cited that the ‘road from Waterford City to the Dog Pound no longer had heavy levels of litter present and was very much deserving of the top litter grade’, while the Greenway Car Park & environs were noted as having a ‘complete absence of litter throughout the survey area.

Some of the other sites that were awarded Grade A include the People’s Park, O’Connell Street, the Medieval Quarter, John Robert’s Square (Barronstrand St./Broad Street) and the Riverwalk from The Tower Hotel to Rice Bridge.

Ballybeg achieved an excellent result and went from being classed as Clean to European norms to a Cleaner than European norms classification in this most recent survey. 

Top grades were awarded to Ardmore Terrance, Ballybeg Drive Roundabout, BRILL Family Resource Centre, St. Saviour’s GAA, Tesco Deposit Return Scheme, and Ballybeg Stores & environs.

Ella Ryan, Environmental Awareness Officer with Waterford City and County Council welcomed the IBAL league results, saying “While we are disappointed to have slipped from the top spot, the number of sites receiving the top grade remains consistent, with Ballybeg performing extremely well.

“The city was surveyed during a busy and festive time as Winterval was in full swing, and while there were some litter spots, the survey noted that some heavily littered sites in previous IBAL surveys had improved.

“We’d like to pay tribute to the Council’s Cleansing team, volunteer clean-up groups, schools and the local communities for working to keep Waterford a clean, attractive place to live, work and invest in.”

The survey also revealed a near -50% fall in the prevalence of plastic bottles and cans in the 500-plus sites monitored since the Deposit Return Scheme was introduced last year.

Conor Horgan of IBAL said, “We are definitely seeing cans and bottles disappear from our streets, which is very welcome – not only are they unsightly, but the bottles contribute to the very real problem of plastic pollution. However, it is clear from our survey that people continue to discard a wide range of litter types with flagrant disregard for their surroundings.”

Sweet wrappers and fast-food wrappers were the most common litter types, ahead of plastic bags and coffee cups, which were present in over 20% of sites.

Ryan added, “While Waterford City and County Council will continue to introduce new environmental awareness initiatives, we would also encourage the owners of private sites to ensure there are adequate bins in place so coffee cups, plastic bottles, plastic bags, fast food wrappers, mineral cans and sweet wrappers can be disposed of properly.”

Details of the most recent Irish Business against Litter Survey can be found at www.ibal.ie/anti-litter-league

By Waterford City & County Council

New Pathway Enhances Community Life in Dungarvan

Dungarvan is celebrating the success of a new Active Travel scheme that is transforming how local people go about their daily journeys.

The Tournore Permeability Scheme, developed by the Active Travel team at Waterford City and County Council, has bridged a critical gap between the Tournore housing development area and the Clonea Road and adjacent Waterford Greenway.

The new pathway is benefitting residents of Tournore Court, Tournore Park and White Strand housing estates. It offers faster, safe and more convenient access to local shops, schools and other services including a new bus stop being installed on the Clonea Road, and the ever-popular Greenway. By creating this vital link, the scheme has not only improved accessibility but also inspired a shift toward Active Travel in the area.

Residents report a noticeable increase in social interaction as more people enjoy walking and cycling along the route. Parents are increasingly seen walking their children to Sesame Early Years Specialist Day Service, located adjacent to the pathway, enjoying the ease and safety the new route provides.

“The new pathway has been a fantastic addition for the children who attend our day service, their families and for our staff. It offers safe and convenient access for everyone and encourages more families to walk to the day service. It is wonderful to see the excitement on the kids’ faces as they enjoy a more active start to their day,” Julie Mulcahy, Coordinator at the Sesame Early Years Specialist Day Service, said.

As part of the scheme, accommodation works including upgraded junctions, enhancement works to the footpaths and the amenity area, and new street lighting have made the area more attractive and inviting.

Dylan White, Active Travel Communications and Behavioural Change Officer at Waterford City and County Council added, “This project reflects the ongoing commitment of Waterford City and County Council to foster healthier, more connected communities through Active Travel initiatives. The Tournore Permeability Scheme is a shining example of how infrastructure improvements can enrich daily life while promoting environmental sustainability.”

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Photo captions:

1 and 2. Photos of completed Tournore Permeability Scheme.

3. Sesame Early Years Specialist Day Service children and staff members Melissa, Kitti and Dearbhla with Ray McGrath (Waterford Older People’s Council chairperson), Thomas Shaw Hamilton (Waterford Sports Partnership) and Susan Whelan and her new puppy.

4. Sesame Early Years Specialist Day Service children and staff members Melissa, Kitti and Dearbhla.

By Waterford City & County Council

Waterford Students join the Campaign for Clean Air

Primary school students from Educate Together Tramore and St. Stephen’s De La Salle in Waterford City recently took part in a clean air campaign with the support of Waterford City and County Council Climate Action Team.

The aim of the project was to explore the issue of air quality through the medium of art, with funding from Creative Ireland.

The students in both schools have been exploring what it means to have clean air in their own community and finding out about local causes of pollution. The students collaborated with local artist Darty the Creator, who captured their ideas and presented them back to the schools in the form of banners. These banners are on display at the two schools where parents and students can see the importance of clean air to the whole community.

The students’ own ideas on the quality of their air were backed up by air quality monitors installed outside their schools. These monitors, which sample the air every 10 minutes, show how the air quality outside the schools change over the course of the day.

Commenting on the results of the monitoring, Gráinne Kennedy, Climate Action Coordinator at Waterford City and County Council said, “The students were able to identify spikes in pollution levels at both school drop-off and pick-up times, resulting from traffic on the road outside. In particular, the practice of leaving the engine running, or idling, was identified by the children as contributing to poor air quality.”

The monitors measure Fine Particulate Matter – PM2.5 – which comes mainly from sources like solid fuel burning and exhaust emissions.  According to the Centre for Research into Atmospheric Chemistry/ERI at UCC, PM2.5 is ‘the most harmful air pollutant that is associated with increases in mortality and morbidity, adverse birth outcomes and childhood respiratory disease.’

At the end of the campaign, the students sent out a very clear message to parents and others who might leave the engine running outside the school. “No idling” was the chant from students in Tramore as they held a large cutout exhaust cloud representing the pollution from cars. Meanwhile St. Stephens school sent out a message to all parents highlighting the students concerns and asking them to avoid idling.

Commenting on the campaign, Mícheál Ó Cadhla, Community Climate Action Officer, Waterford City and County Council said, “The children who took part in this project were not content to just find out about pollution but wanted to take action to reduce it. It is up to all of us, whether dropping kids to school or at any other time, to avoid idling and switch off our engines.”

Meg Halley, Tramore Educate Together teacher and Green Schools Coordinator commended the students saying, “The children have taken real ownership of it and want to improve the air quality in their local area.”

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Images (Waterford City and County Council)

  • Students at St. Stephen’s De La Salle in Waterford City giving the message to parents that they want clean air outside their school.
  • Students at Tramore Educate Together calling on drivers to avoid idling their engines to reduce air pollution outside their school.

By Waterford City & County Council

Kilbarry Nature Park and Waterford Greenway continue to fly the Green Flag

The 2024 Green Flag Awards were announced today by An Taisce Environmental Education, acknowledging Ireland’s best public parks and gardens, with both Kilbarry Nature Park and Waterford Greenway achieving a Green Flag Award for 2024.

The 2024 Green Flag Awards celebrate the recognition of Ireland’s best parks and green spaces.

The international Green Flag Award was awarded to 120 parks, gardens, greenways and wildlife sanctuaries around the country today. The award acknowledges excellence in the management of those green spaces which are freely open to the public. Ireland clearly leads the way for other EU countries, with the largest quota out of a total of 174 EU Green Flag Award sites being located here in 2024.

Following today’s announcement by An Taisce, Dawn Wallace, Senior Executive Officer with Waterford City and County Council’s Environment Department said, “These Green Flag Awards not only showcase the calibre of the wonderful natural amenities that we have in Waterford, but they also highlight the importance of shared public spaces as a place for people to relax and experience the wonder of nature on our doorstep.

“Waterford Greenway and Kilbarry Nature Park are exemplars of well-maintained public green spaces that not only improve biodiversity, but also contribute to the health and well-being of our communities.”

Ms. Wallace also acknowledged the work of the Council team in securing these awards, saying, “Each member involved in maintaining these spaces takes pride in the appearance of our parks, open spaces and amenities, and these awards is testament to the great ongoing effort shown by them.”

Emlyn Cullen, Programme Manager for An Taisce Environmental Education Unit, running the Award in Ireland said, “The continued success of the Green Flag Award is due to the love staff members have for their green spaces and the hard work they put in to maintaining them. They do a phenomenal job every day making their parks and gardens beautiful, safe spaces for the public to enjoy.”

The Green Flag Award is the international quality benchmark for the public green space sector – now operating in 19 countries around the world. Running for over 25 years, the programme uses eight key criteria, with an emphasis on environmental management, for its assessment. All sites implement a management framework, and then undergo an annual inspection conducted by qualified judges.

Once again Ireland has secured its lead in high quality park amenities with more Green Flag Awards being secured by Irish parks and public gardens than by any country, other than the UK where the scheme originated in 1996.

By Waterford City & County Council

Illegal Bring Bank dumping results in fine of €1,235

LitterOn October 14th 2024 a woman was found guilty in Waterford District Court to an offence under the Litter Pollution Act 1997 and was penalised a total of €1,235 in relation to the dumping of bags of waste at the Bring Bank in Barrack Street, Waterford.

In March 2023, an environmental inspector for Waterford City and County Council removed and searched a number of bags which had been left at the Bring Bank and found evidence linked to the woman.

A litter fine was initially issued, however it remain unpaid.  On foot of this, a prosecution was then taken to the district court.

Solicitor Hilary Delahunty acting on behalf of the woman entered a guilty plea, and Eoin O’Herlihy acting on behalf of Waterford City and County Council outlined the facts of the case and showed photographs to Judge Staunton.

Judge Staunton, accepting the guilty plea, imposed costs of €1,085 in addition to the €150 litter fine.

Niall Kane, Senior Executive Engineer in the Environment Section of Waterford City and County Council said, “The penalty imposed here would have paid for a bin service for a number of years.  Illegally dumping your waste will cost more in the long run.  People who get a litter fine have 21 days to pay and if they don’t pay within this period, they face prosecution and much higher costs on conviction.”

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By Waterford City & County Council

Over 1,000 businesses take the Pledge for A Cleaner, Greener Waterford

Local climate action ambassadors
Following a call by Waterford City and County Council, over 1,000 local businesses have signed up to a Business Pledge for A Cleaner, Greener Waterford.

The scheme, formerly known as the Commercial Energy Discount Scheme, was originally launched in 2022, and has since supported thousands of businesses across the city and county in transitioning to carbon neutrality by identifying opportunities for reducing energy usage and costs, exploring the potential of renewable energy while availing of a discount on their commercial rates.

As part of Waterford City and County Council’s roadmap to delivering a carbon neutral Waterford by 2040 businesses were once again invited to take the pledge to strive towards a cleaner, greener Waterford, and commit to completing at least two actions in the next 12 months that will reduce the carbon footprint of their business.

All 1,003 businesses which took the pledge and committed to two sustainable actions will have a 9% discount applied to their commercial rates.

Sean McKeown, Chief Executive of Waterford City and County Council was pleased with the uptake.  “There has been a fantastic response to the business pledge initiative.  It highlights the appetite of Waterford businesses to commit to more sustainable business practices that not only have a positive impact on the environment, but also on their operating costs.

“Waterford is the first and only Local Authority to implement such a scheme, and it is just one component of our extremely ambitious strategy in the Climate Action Plan 2024–2029 to achieve energy efficiency and reduce emission targets significantly.

“In our ambition to be Ireland’s first carbon neutral city it is heartening to see the groundswell of support from the local business community.”

Climate Action Coordinator with Waterford City and County Council, Gráinne Kennedy added, “Waterford City and County Council, working in tandem with local businesses, can collectively make Waterford the most sustainable place in Ireland to do business.

“We had fantastic support from local businesses across the city and county and I’d particularly like to extend our gratitude to our local “ambassadors”, Dooley’s Hotel, Cantec Group, Powerflow Electronics and Blossom & Berry Florists, who all enthusiastically picked up and ran with the sustainability baton.”

The scheme was open to businesses with annual rate bills less than €10,000 or operate in the hospitality and leisure industries and provided details of the actions they will take to become more sustainable in the coming year, with the 9% commercial rates discount applied in December.

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Local climate action ‘ambassadors:

Top (l-r) Claudia O’Neill Blossom & Berry Florists and Fergal Power  Powerflow Electronics

Bottom (l-r) Greg Tuohy Cantec Group and Tina Darrer Dooley’s Hotel

By Waterford City & County Council

Walking and cycling preferred modes of transport for Waterford students

Students want to see more investment in pedestrian and cycling infrastructure in Waterford, was a key message at the South East Technological University’s (SETU) recent Climate and Biodiversity Week.

The programme of events at SETU Cork Road campus aimed to engage students and staff and inspire efforts throughout the University to combat climate change.

Waterford City and County Council’s Active Travel and Climate Action teams met with students throughout the week, and it was clear that many students prefer to walk or cycle to college as part of their daily journeys.

“We spoke to a range of students including those studying public health, engineering, business and exchange students about their preferred ways of getting to college daily. Walking is most convenient for students living in the city, as it’s cost effective and an easy way to increase their activity levels,” said Dylan White, Active Travel Communications and Behavioural Change Officer, Waterford City and County Council.

“Cycling is also popular, and the general feeling is that more students would take up cycling to college if the cycling infrastructure on key routes to the university’s campuses is improved.

“We also met students travelling from Carlow, Kilkenny and Tipperary who are opting to use a combination of public transport and walking or cycling to get to college,” added Mr White.

The Walking and Cycling Index was published earlier this year and found that every day those who walk and cycle take nearly 16,000 cars off the road in the Waterford Metropolitan Area. Walking and cycling instead of driving in the Waterford Metropolitan Area save on greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to 61,300 flights from Dublin Airport to London Heathrow Airport annually.

Active Travel projects are funded by the Department of Transport through the National Transport Authority’s Active Travel Programme and are managed and delivered at a local level by Waterford City and County Council.  Recent public consultations have been held in Lismore Park and St John’s Park respectively, to allow the public feed into proposed Active Travel projects in these areas of Waterford City.

Other activities during Climate and Biodiversity Week included local suppliers showcasing energy-efficient devices. These displays showed renewable energy options for the home, including solar PV panels and solar lighting, providing attendees with insights into more sustainable living.

Cian Gill, Climate Action Officer, Waterford City and County Council said, “It was interesting that many students we met expressed an interest in careers within the renewable energy industry, so for them, it was a chance to talk to organisations operating in that industry today and get an idea of what the career is like, and what might be on offer in the near future,”

There was also a focus on fashion and environmental impacts of a throw-away clothing culture. There was a clothes swap event, alongside a sewing workshop that demonstrated how to repair and upcycle garments rather than discarding them. These activities encouraged participants to rethink their approach to clothing consumption and waste.

Mícheál Ó Cadhla, Community Climate Change Officer at Waterford City and County Council added, “At a time when all organisations need to be showing leadership on sustainability and climate action, it was great to see the range of activities across SETU, especially on the Cork Road Campus in Waterford. There is clearly a strong interest from the student body in the practical steps which they can take to tackle climate change.” 

By Waterford City & County Council

Waterford Schools take the Schools Litter Challenge

 

The Mayor of Waterford City and County recently launched the Waterford Schools Litter Challenge at the new Tom Murphy Car Sales Toyota dealership on the Cork Road.

The challenge, now in its fourth year is sponsored by Tom Murphy Car Sales Toyota, in association with Waterford City and County Council and Waterford Chamber.

As part of the eight-week challenge, secondary school students from across the city and county will be encouraged to identify litter black spots in their communities and carry out regular litter picking of the area.  In addition, the students will learn about the sources of litter, and about the benefits of reusing and recycling items.

Mayor of Waterford City and County, Cllr. Jason Murphy said, “I’d like to acknowledge all the students and their teachers for once again signing up to the Schools Litter Challenge.  We’re in the fourth year of this initiative and the change for good that has been made by each and every one of you is to be commended.

“It would be naïve to not be concerned about the environmental harm that litter, particularly single use plastics, causes. However, knowing that the next generation is prepared to take action to alleviate that damage is heartening.

“Waterford has consistently ranked as Ireland’s Cleanest City and it is environmental awareness initiatives such as this, coupled with the continued support of the local business community, particularly Tom Murphy Car Sales, that is keeping Waterford a clean and welcoming place to live, work and invest in.”

Waterford City and County Council has provided bags, gloves, litter pickers and high visibility vests to all schools and Tom Murphy Car Sales Toyota has sponsored the €1,500 prize for the winning school.

Michael Oporowicz, Area Sales Manager, Toyota Ireland said, “Toyota is delighted to support this amazing initiative which aligns with our brand promise, Built For A Better World, which strives to make a positive and tangible difference to Irish society. This program makes a huge difference to the people of Waterford, and we are delighted that Tom Murphy is a leading this program.

“Tom Murphy has been at the heart of Waterford’s community for over 50 years and is passionate about Waterford, its people and its presentation. We are looking forward to working with the schools and Waterford City and County Council to realise our aim in working towards a sustainable, environmentally friendly future for generations to come.”

Ella Ryan, Environmental Awareness Officer with Waterford City and County Council added, “We got a great reaction from the eleven schools from across the city and county who undertook the challenge last year.  The enthusiasm and dedication from the students were contagious, and while St Augustine’s College Dungarvan emerged as overall winner, the efforts of all the schools did not go unnoticed as there was an apparent reduction in litter and debris in their designated areas.”

The Schools Litter Challenge runs until December 20th, 2024 with the overall winners announced by Mayor Murphy at a reception in City Hall in January 2025.

By Waterford City & County Council

Rethinking Fashion: How to Reverse the Trend for a Greener Future

Reverse the Trend

The Reverse the Trend campaign, spearheaded by the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications, encourages individuals to rethink their fashion consumption habits to combat climate change.

By choosing to buy less, rewear existing clothing, and share with others, this initiative promotes a sustainable approach to fashion. The campaign emphasises the environmental impact of fast fashion and advocates for more circular fashion practices, such as borrowing or swapping clothes.

The fashion industry is estimated to be responsible for 10% of global carbon emissions, however only 31% of Irish people see a link between purchasing textiles and climate change. Recent research from the Environmental Protection Agency found that textiles such as clothing and household textiles make up 9% of waste in the general waste bin.

Simple actions can lead to meaningful changes in reducing waste and protecting the environment. Discover more on how to make sustainable choices here.

By Waterford City & County Council

Engaging for Change: SETU Climate Week Highlights

SETU Climate Week took place from the 14th to the 18th of October, with the WCC Climate Action Team actively supporting a range of events throughout the week.

On Tuesday, the foyer showcased local suppliers of energy-efficient devices. These displays showed renewable energy options for the home, including solar PV panels and solar lighting, providing attendees with insights into more sustainable living.

Wednesday’s focus turned to fast fashion and the environmental impacts of our throw-away clothing culture. A clothes swap event was hosted by Change Clothes, alongside a sewing workshop that demonstrated how to repair and upcycle garments rather than discarding them. These activities encouraged participants to rethink their approach to clothing consumption and waste.

Thursday saw great interest from students as Cian Gill from the Climate Team and Dylan White from Active Travel set out their stall. Many students, who regularly walk or cycle to the various college campuses, were eager to discuss the challenges they face and the changes they would like to see. This engagement highlighted the importance of accessible and sustainable travel options for the student community.

Read more about Climate Action and Active Travel on our website.

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