Joint Response to Illegal Dumping in the Wicklow/Dublin Uplands

The PURE project is a partnership project and the first of its kind in Ireland which incorporates statutory and non-statutory organisations, including; Wicklow County Council, Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council and South Dublin County Council, as well as Coillte, National Parks & Wildlife Service, Fáilte Ireland, and the Wicklow Uplands Council, funded by The Department of Environment Community and Local Government and was established to combat illegal dumping/fly-tipping in the Wicklow/Dublin Uplands.

Since the establishment of PURE the project has removed over 1,900 tonnes of rubbish from the landscape. If you were to put all of this rubbish into standard household rubbish bags you would fill over 270,000 bags. If you lined up each of the bags that PURE has removed from the uplands they would stretch over 270 kilometres in length, which is longer than a journey from Glendalough to Cork City. Due to the economic slowdown PURE has seen an increase in small scale illegal dumping, in particular domestic rubbish bags.

 

A continuing problem for the project is householders and businesses handing over their waste to illegal waste collectors. In an attempt to highlight this problem the project appeared in two special TV programmes with TV3 in 2012 where PURE appealed to the general public to check that waste collectors had a valid waste collection permit before handing over their rubbish. Over the years a number of people have been convicted and fined for handing over their waste to unauthorised waste collectors and PURE continue to work closely with local authorities.

 

This year PURE were again involved in PURE WICKED and PURE ANIMATION, a two week environmental/animation training programme for teenagers that introduces students to important environmental issues that are related to The PURE Project, e.g., illegal dumping, litter, fly-tipping, recycling, pollution, etc., all done through the medium of animation. With the guidance of professional animators the students learned how to produce, direct and create their own short animated films. To date the training programme has produced 14 short animated films, one of which, Rubbish Express, recently won Best Film in the 12-18 years category at the 2012 Blackrock Animation Film Festival. Participants involved in the creation of Rubbish Express were presented with a trophy by Jimmy Deenihan, TD Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht. The 2012 Blackrock Animation Film Festival received 146 entries from all over the world including, China, Canada, Australia, Sweden, Malaysia, Portugal, the Netherlands, Germany, USA, and the UK.  To view Rubbish Express and other Pure Animations logo on to http://www.pureproject.ie/what-we-do/pure-animation-movies

Rubbish Express

‘The PURE Mile’, an initiative of the PURE project, has been a great success, with over 30 communities and groups having already participated in the competition. The competition is similar to the Tidy Towns, but for rural areas and encourages communities in county Wicklow to keep a mile stretch of road (approx. 1.6 km), and the immediate environment litter/rubbish free. Groups are also encouraged to find out more about the local wild plants, animals, heritage, history and the folklore and traditions associated with their areas. The regular picking up of litter and rubbish, repairing and painting of traditional gates, retaining stone walls and stiles, identifying and researching local heritage and local folklore, benefits both the local people and the local environment. PURE also design and distribute the hugely popular PURE Mile Calendar. This calendar depicts all of the areas who participate in the PURE Mile competition.

 

PURE invite all rural communities, organisations, or a group of people living along a mile in a rural area of county Wicklow to enter competition. Applications for The 2013 PURE Mile competition are now closed but if you are interested in finding out more you can request an information pack by emailing info@pureproject.ie or it can be downloaded from http://www.pureproject.ie/what-we-do/the-pure-mile/ . You can also write to; PURE Project, Wicklow Mountains, National Park, Kilafin, Laragh, Bray, Co. Wicklow and they will post the information to you. There is over €2500 worth of prize money to be won and all entries feature in the PURE Mile Calendar.

 

TO REPORT DUMPERS AND DUMPING LO–CALL 1850 365 121

 

Author: Ian Davis, PURE Project Manager

 

  For further information Ph:0404 45547 – 087 2518064

 

info@pureproject.ie

 

www.pureproject.ie