Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Council

Clare County Council urges a healthier and greener Christmas

8 December 2022

Clare County Council’s Healthy Clare and Greener Clare teams have joined forces to deliver a five-week ‘Healthy and Greener Christmas and New Year’ campaign. The campaign will launch on Monday, 12th December, 2022, and will continue until Sunday, 15th January, 2023.

The weekly themes of the campaign are:

  1. Reducing your Food Waste Week
  2. Bring Your Reusable Water Bottle Week
  3. Creatively Upcycling Week
  4. Use Less Chemicals at Home Week
  5. QUIT Tobacco Littering Week.

 

The purpose of the campaign is to promote healthier and greener actions over the Christmas and New Year season, featuring top tips and advice to benefit both our health and the environment.

The campaign can be viewed by visiting https://yoursay.clarecoco.ie/healthy-greener-christmas or by following Clare County Council, Healthy Clare, and Greener Clare on social media.

Dena McGrath, Healthy Clare Coordinator, Clare County Council, said: “I am delighted to work in conjunction with our Environment Department’s Greener Clare team on this campaign. There is an intrinsic link between good health and wellbeing and the environment. For example, the benefits of upcycling go far beyond the environment around us. Being creative can improve our mental wellbeing too.”

Through the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), these links are very apparent. This awareness campaign is not only relevant to SDG 3 – ‘Good Health and Well Being’’, but it also has strong connections to SDG 11 – ‘Sustainable Cities and Communities’; SDG 12 – ‘Responsible Consumption and Production’; SDG 13 – ‘Climate Action; SDG 14 - Life Below Water’; SDG 15 – ‘Life on Land’; and SDG 17 – ‘Partnerships for the Goals’.

Karen Foley, Environmental Awareness Officer, Clare County Council, said: “Christmas is a time of year that generates a lot of waste. By managing our waste responsibly and taking steps to prevent, reduce and reuse this Christmas, we can reduce our carbon footprint and help preserve our earth’s limited natural resources.

“Meal planning, for example, ensures healthy meals and snacks are there no matter how busy things get. However, meal planning is also important to help reduce food waste. Food waste is a significant contributor to climate change, generating around 10 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions.”

This webpage is also a go-to resource that will detail Clare County Council Recycling Centres’ and Transfer Stations’ opening hours over the Christmas period. A carload of recyclable waste brought to Ballyduffbeg, Lisdeen, Shannon, Scariff, and Ennis costs as little as €5.00. It will also detail bottle/bring bank locations.

Maria Carey, Clare County Council, Waste Enforcement Team, said: “Boxes, bags or other materials used to carry recyclables should not be disposed of at the bring bank. They should be brought home or to any of Clare County Council’s five Civic Amenity Sites. Bring banks are serviced regularly. However, there is huge demand on sites at this time of year. Where bring banks are full, alternative sites should be used. We thank people for their co-operation.”

Ms Carey added: “While out and about over Christmas enjoying our amazing amenities, we are also urging people to always ‘Leave no Trace’, and when it comes to litter either bin It or bring it home.”

If there is a problem with littering or illegal dumping in your community, our Waste Enforcement Team can be contacted at 1800 606 706 / (065) 6846 331 or via email at enviroff@clarecoco.ie”.

Page last reviewed: 08/12/22

Content managed by: Corporate Services Department

Back to top