Translink has teamed up with Eco-Schools to launch a new project that encourages local schools to use more sustainable forms of transport. The Translink Eco Schools Travel Challenge aims to raise awareness on the impact of transport on the environment and will help participants meet Eco-Schools assessment criteria to achieve the prestigious Green Flag status.

Launching the Travel Challenge at Hazelwood Integrated PS, Newtownabbey, Ursula Kelleher, PR Officer, Translink, said: "Operating as we do at the heart of communities right across Northern Ireland we recognise our responsibility towards looking after the local environment. We believe it is important to educate young people on the benefits of both bus and train and other sustainable travel options such as walking, cycling and car-sharing to reduce harmful pollution levels, congestion and improve their health and safety.

"Translink has a strong existing relationship with schools in Northern Ireland and is the main school transport provider here, carrying over 65,000 pupils everyday. We already focus on safety using resources like our award-winning safety bus visits to schools and our Travelsafe DVD and learning pack. This new partnership enables local schools to also focus on serious environmental issues facing young people to help to build a more sustainable future for Northern Ireland."

Translink has worked closely with Eco-Schools and Tidy Northern Ireland to produce educational resources for both Key Stage 1 & Key Stage 2 pupils. Materials include large classroom wall charts to monitor pupil travel patterns and a range of classroom exercise sheets. Translink bus and rail employees will also provide school visits and there will be a special prize presentation for winning Travel Challenge participants in June.

Dr Ian Humphreys, Chief Executive of TIDY Northern Ireland, which administers Eco-Schools in Northern Ireland, said: "Everyone who has been stuck in rush hour traffic will know that buses and trains are the way forward. Engaging our young students in Translink's very practical challenge is an excellent way for them to learn about the positive impact of public transport on their health, their environment and the dreaded school run congestion! The lessons that we learn from the 15 schools taking part in this Travel Challenge will be invaluable and we will pass them on to all schools involved in our Eco-Schools Programme so that in a year's time we would hope that all schools in the country will be able to take part in this wonderful Translink Eco-Schools Travel Challenge".

Patricia Murtagh, Principal, Hazelwood IPS, said the transport theme offers her school another creative and engaging topic for study to meet the Eco-Schools award criteria:

"Last year we received the Eco Schools Silver Award and are now working hard to achieve the prestigious Green Flag. When we first heard about the Translink Eco-Schools Travel Challenge we felt it would be an interesting way to introduce the topic of transport into the classroom. Public transport plays an important role in building greener and cleaner communities and we need to deliver this message to people from a young age. I am pleased that Translink is supporting Eco-Schools and the new educational resources will certainly get children thinking about the importance of using sustainable transport options to help look after the environment."

Schools interested in getting involved in the next Translink Eco-Schools Travel Challenge as part of their assessment for the Eco-Schools Awards Scheme can call 028 9073 6920 or click www.translink.co.uk/translinkecoschoolschallenge.asp .

The Big Spring Clean has Sprung!

We only have to step outside our front door to see cigarette butts stuck in the gutter, chewing gum blotting the landscape and all forms of plastic, paper and other unsightly litter lying in the street. It costs us, as ratepayers, £30 million a year to clean our streets and keep them free of litter. We think it's high time this changed, and this is why TIDY Northern Ireland has teamed up with the Belfast Telegraph to bring you the BIG Spring Clean.

The BIG Spring Clean is running from the 16^th to the 25^th April 2010 during which time the nation is going to give this messy province a makeover and freshen up those tired looking street corners, beaches, fields and roadsides ready for everyone to enjoy in the summer.

We are asking schools, businesses, youth and community groups to get involved in the BIG Spring Clean by organising a local clean up near you. This is your chance to send a clear message to litter louts that their behaviour is unacceptable. By cleaning up our streets you will also be making our country a cleaner, safer, greener place to live - and a clean environment is one where businesses will want to invest, where tourists will want to visit and where we will enjoy a better, healthier, happier quality of life.

To register your event for the Big Spring Clean this year please click here . Here you will also find useful contact information to make sure that you have the right equipment and support for your day. Don't forget to visit the Planning your Clean Up page on the website to get some handy tips on making your day safe, successful and fun.

TIDY Northern Ireland operated the National Spring Clean up until 2003. We are bringing this public engagement campaign back, in partnership with the Belfast Telegraph, as part of our strategy to raise this issue up the agenda to make Northern Ireland Tidy.

Dr Ian Humphreys, Chief Executive of TIDY Northern Ireland, wants people to change their behaviour and said, "It is a national disgrace that so many people treat Northern Ireland as one giant litter bin and this campaign is a fantastic opportunity for people to send a clear message to litterers to clean up their act and stop costing us a fortune." Anyone ignoring this message runs the risk of a £50 fine now, or an even heavier fine once the new Clean Neighbourhoods legislation comes into force.

So, it's time to start planning your clean up, mobilising your volunteers and contacting your local council. Together we can make a difference and give our province a BIG Spring Clean.

For more information please phone TIDY NI on 028 9073 6920 or email: jennifer.smyth@tidynorthernireland.org

Still building on the high levels of interest generated by our Litter Summit in October, we are offering a full-day seminar that will focus on making use of current legislation to tackle fly-posting, graffiti and (small scale) fly-tipping.

The seminar will be led by David Armstrong of Mallard Consultancy Ltd, the legal speaker at the Litter Summit. David is acknowledged as a leading national authority on measures and tactics to combat environmental crime and nuisance. His experience of the Clean Neighbourhoods Act in England and Wales will also be of interest, as similar legislation is being developed for Northern Ireland.

The seminar takes place on Wednesday 5 May. A registration form and course outline are available for download below.

The cleanliness of our streets has once again improved for the fourth year in five, but a rising tide of sweet wrappers, drinks bottles and fast food packaging is threatening to ruin our clean green image.

Those are part of the findings of an extensive TIDY Northern Ireland litter survey released today (Friday 5th March 2010) that found 92% of streets met government standards for litter during 2009. While this is an improvement on the 11% failure rate of the previous year, both cigarette litter and confectionery related litter has been on the increase during the same period.

For virtually all areas surveyed, covering all 26 councils, the top three litter items encountered were cigarette, confectionary and chewing gum. However, rural areas have unique problems, with high levels of litter being chucked out of passing cars. Drinks, confectionary and fast food litter were the main items defiling our beautiful countryside, all being found on over 60% of surveyed roads.

"It is pleasing to see further confirmation that Northern Ireland is getting cleaner, but it is a constant battle to keep litter off our streets and we are seeing some worrying trends that need to be addressed immediately," said TIDY Northern Ireland Chief Executive, Dr Ian Humphreys. "The continual increase in cigarette litter following the introduction of the public smoking ban is perhaps not as surprising as the dramatic ongoing rise in confectionery litter. Our countryside too is not immune to defilement seeing a rising tide of fast food litter and drinks litter making a real mess of our environment, spoiling the enjoyment for local people and tourists alike.

If we are to continue reporting improvements in litter levels then people need to change their attitudes. It requires very little effort to hold onto rubbish until you are near a bin to dispose of it, but people's careless attitude to the problem means councils are forced to spend £30 million a year of rate payer's money on cleaning up the mess we leave in our wake."

Over the past year TIDY Northern Ireland's surveyors have scrutinised over 1,000 public sites in the Northern Ireland Litter Survey, searching for litter on the pavements and recording the types and sources of litter across a variety of different land use types. The Litter Survey revealed that cigarette litter is now present on almost three quarters of our streets, with confectionery litter found on 60% of areas surveyed. While dog fouling is regarded as one of the worst forms of litter it was one of the least frequent offenders, being found on only 3% of streets

Environment Minister Edwin Poots today invited members of the public to have their say on plans to improve the quality of their local environment.

The Minister was speaking as he launched a consultation on a draft Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Bill.

He said: "There is little doubt that local environmental quality issues such as litter, abandoned vehicles, dog fouling and fly-posting are major concerns for local residents which impact on the quality of life in our public places and local neighbourhoods. Neglect promotes further deterioration and this can lead to anti-social behaviour and higher levels of crime."

He added: "People want to live in neighbourhoods that are clean and safe. Our streets, parks, town squares and open spaces are great assets and places that form the heart of our communities. They are where people meet, where they travel to work, where they live and where our children play. They should be places of which we are all proud and which foster a sense of civic pride."

The proposed Bill contains provisions designed to improve the quality of the local environment by giving district councils additional powers, similar to their counterparts in England and Wales. These powers will enable them to deal more effectively with litter, nuisance alleys, fly-posting and graffiti, abandoned and nuisance vehicles, dogs, noise and other nuisance problems.

The Minister added: "It is now well understood that a cleaner neighbourhood is an integral part of ensuring a safer neighbourhood. We are proposing to help district councils to tackle problems at a local level more effectively by enabling them to address issues through more comprehensive and user friendly legislation and guidance."

Chief Executive, Ian Humphreys of TIDY NI said, "TIDY Northern Ireland is delighted to see this consultation taking place with a view to strengthening council powers to tackle the all-too-common anti-social behaviours and environmental crimes that we all observe on a daily basis. Far too many people think it's ok to drop litter, fly-tip, graffiti and fly-post and this legislation should help councils to change those people's behaviour for the benefit of us all."

The consultation can be viewed and downloaded from: http://www.doeni.gov.uk/clean_neighbourhoods.htm

The consultation runs until 23 April 2010.

Latest Borough Cleanliness Survey Results are out!

During 2009, 1000 transects were surveyed throughout boroughs all over Northern Ireland. Although litter levels seem to be improving gradually the report shows that much work still needs to be done to tidy up Northern Ireland.

After a small halt in improving litter levels last year, the general trend has been re-established once again in 2009 with a reduction in both the Litter Pollution Index and the Detritus Pollution Index. This is a credit to the many people who regularly rise early in the morning, whatever the weather, to keep our streets free of litter and to the council management teams who constantly have to balance limited resources against high demand. However, it is not all good news. We still live in a country where we will encounter at least some litter on 19 out of every 20 streets we walk along. This has to change if we want to help the economy through increased tourism, attract inward investment for jobs, and provide a cleaner greener environment that is healthy for people to live, work and relax in.

Without definitive and easily understood figures about the standards of important environmental aspects that matter most to residents, workers, visitors and investors, improvements are harder to achieve. Cleanliness surveying not only measures and records standards, it also diagnoses the sources and causes of existing and emerging problems - thereby helping to set the agenda for action and improvement. Please click on the link below if you would lke to view the 2009 Borough Cleanliness Survey Annual Report.

2009 Annual Borough Cleanliness Survey Report

Fast Food Brands 'Take away' Our Clean Image

The hedgerows and road verges of Northern Ireland are filled not with wildlife but with McDonald\'s burger boxes and drink cartons. That is the conclusion of TIDY Northern Ireland\'s latest survey, which has found that a super sized 19% of the fast food related litter polluting our province originates from McDonalds.

The anti-litter charity studied twenty miles of road verges leading out of our major towns and cities and found over 1,500 instances of fast food related litter, an average of 75 items per mile. Of those McDonald\'s packaging was the most commonly found branded item, although unbranded takeaways were responsible for even more of the pollution, accounting for 22%. Disposable coffee cups (16%) and drinks related items (14%) were also commonplace at the roadside. Branded litter was found from a wide variety of different takeaway outlets, but none were on the same scale as McDonalds. KFC was the second most commonly encountered brand with 3% of all the litter surveyed. Subway were third, accounting for 2% overall.

TIDY Northern Ireland Chief Executive Dr Ian Humphreys is hoping the findings will encourage all fast food outlets to shoulder their share of the blame and address the problem. "Obviously the public are the ones dropping the litter and they have to change their behaviour, but the fast food outlets also have to do their bit," he said. "TIDY Northern Ireland would like to see the fast food chains play a more active role in promoting the anti-littering message, and work with both local communities and organisations such as ourselves to ensure their name is not associated with the sort of behaviour that is making the road verges of Northern Ireland an eyesore. Fast food litter is present on over a quarter of all streets within the province, and if we are to reduce that figure then the takeaways have to make it easier for their customers to do the right thing, and that applies as much to the small village chip shop as it does to the biggest fast food chain in the world."

Source of fast food litter in Northern Ireland:

Unbranded22%

McDonalds 19%

Disposable Coffee Cups 16%

Drinks 14%

KFC 3%

Subway 3%

The surveys were conducted in the town centres and roads leading out of ten of the province\'s major towns and cities; Belfast, Derry, Portadown, Newry, Newtownards, Dungannon, Omagh, Coleraine, Ballymena and Lisburn.

Fast Food Brands 'Take away' Our Clean Image

The hedgerows and road verges of Northern Ireland are filled not with wildlife but with McDonald's burger boxes and drink cartons. That is the conclusion of TIDY Northern Ireland's latest survey, which has found that a super sized 19% of the fast food related litter polluting our province originates from McDonalds.

The anti-litter charity studied twenty miles of road verges leading out of our major towns and cities and found over 1,500 instances of fast food related litter, an average of 75 items per mile. Of those McDonald's packaging was the most commonly found branded item, although unbranded takeaways were responsible for even more of the pollution, accounting for 22%. Disposable coffee cups (16%) and drinks related items (14%) were also commonplace at the roadside. Branded litter was found from a wide variety of different takeaway outlets, but none were on the same scale as McDonalds. KFC was the second most commonly encountered brand with 3% of all the litter surveyed. Subway were third, accounting for 2% overall.

TIDY Northern Ireland Chief Executive Dr Ian Humphreys is hoping the findings will encourage all fast food outlets to shoulder their share of the blame and address the problem. "Obviously the public are the ones dropping the litter and they have to change their behaviour, but the fast food outlets also have to do their bit," he said. "TIDY Northern Ireland would like to see the fast food chains play a more active role in promoting the anti-littering message, and work with both local communities and organisations such as ourselves to ensure their name is not associated with the sort of behaviour that is making the road verges of Northern Ireland an eyesore. Fast food litter is present on over a quarter of all streets within the province, and if we are to reduce that figure then the takeaways have to make it easier for their customers to do the right thing, and that applies as much to the small village chip shop as it does to the biggest fast food chain in the world."

Source of fast food litter in Northern Ireland:

Unbranded22%

McDonalds 19%

Disposable Coffee Cups 16%

Drinks 14%

KFC 3%

Subway 3%

The surveys were conducted in the town centres and roads leading out of ten of the province's major towns and cities; Belfast, Derry, Portadown, Newry, Newtownards, Dungannon, Omagh, Coleraine, Ballymena and Lisburn.

Volunteers dedicated to cleaning up Northern Ireland's coastline have been honoured at Stormont where they were presented with prestigious Clean Coast Awards by Environment Minister Edwin Poots.

The inaugural Coca-Cola Clean Coast Awards are part of TIDY Northern Ireland's successful Clean Coast Programme and are designed to recognise the outstanding contribution of individuals and groups involved in cleaning and protecting our rural beaches, from Benone on the North Coast to Cranfield Beach under the shadow of the Mournes.

Since the beginning of 2009, 875 volunteers have registered on the programme, spending almost 1,700 hours removing 540 bags of rubbish from our beaches. In addition to the commonly encountered plastic bags, confectionary wrappers and marine debris, items removed have included trousers, cutlery, fridges, a bed and even a boxing glove.

Presenting the awards Minister Poots said, "I would like to congratulate all of the volunteers and the award winners on their tremendous achievements - this is excellent! However the volume of waste collected highlights the necessity for every single person to take special care when discarding their rubbish.

We are blessed with beautiful beaches in Northern Ireland for everyone to enjoy but we must act responsibly not only when using our beaches but when discarding waste from our homes.

Over fifty percent of Northern Irelands' biodiversity is in the sea and therefore we all have a responsibility, to keep our beaches rubbish free to maintain our rich marine environment."

TIDY Northern Ireland Chief Executive Dr Ian Humphreys has been thrilled with the response generated in the first year of the awards programme. "TIDY Northern Ireland is delighted to be able to recognise the tremendous efforts that volunteers and councils have been putting in to combat the increasing problem of litter on our beaches. Sadly we are all familiar with the rubbish that accumulates beside the sea, spoiling one of Northern Ireland's greatest natural assets. Tourism and the investment that it brings has become increasingly important to the Northern Ireland economy in recent times, and the success of the Clean Coast Programme is showing that a growing number of people are refusing to stand back and watch their local environment become polluted. These volunteers have set the standards on how we should look after our coastal environment, and it's time others followed their lead and disposed of their litter in a responsible fashion."

Gillian McBrien, Public Relations Executive of Coca-Cola HBC Northern Ireland, added, "Northern Ireland is world famous for its dramatic and beautiful coastlines, but in order to keep it that way, local communities must take responsibility for their beaches, keep them clean and uphold their natural beauty. The Coca-Cola Clean Coast Awards provide a great way of recognising and rewarding the practical action being taken by individual and groups across Northern Ireland in looking after our much treasured rural beaches.

As a local company Coca-Cola HBC Northern Ireland has been investing in community projects for some 70 years, and we are delighted to be working hand in hand with Tidy Northern Ireland, an organisation that is wholly committed to protecting our local environment, and championing positive change for Northern Ireland's coastline. Congratulations to all the beach managers and local communities from around Northern Ireland on achieving these prestigious awards."

2009 Coca-Cola Clean Coast Award Winners

The Coca-Cola Clean Coast Group Award

Winner: Cloughey District & Community Association

Judges Comment;

"Cloughey District and Community Association thoroughly deserve recognition for the outstanding example they have set in regards to the lasting partnerships they have fostered with local organisations and council. The community Association has organised an impressive number of beach cleans and collecting tonnes of rubbish from Cloughey beach. They really have made a positive difference to the beach which can be enjoyed by the whole community."

The Best Youth Group Award

Winner: Kilkeel Parish Youth

Judges Comment;

"Kilkeel Parish Youth have carried out a significant number of clean up's on the beach at Kilkeel, working daily and for a number of weeks throughout the summer. An area with a rich heritage in seas fishing, Kilkeel suffers from a daily onslaught of unsightly and potentially hazardous fishing debris and this group has made an invaluable contribution to improving the local environment."

Highly Commended: Voice of Young People in Care

Judges Comment;

"The young people of VOYPIC deserve to be commended for their commitment to improving and caring for the coastal environment. The groups not only removed a substantial amount of unsightly waste from the beach at Benone during their beach clean, but also helped build intrigue and raise awareness among local residents of the Clean Coast Programme by designing and building their own sand sculptured sea creatures on the beach."

The Best Partnership Award

Millisle Community Association and Millisle Primary School

Judges Comment;

"The partnership between Millisle Community Association and Millisle Primary School is a fantastic example of how everyone in the community can work together to maintain a safe and litter free environment for all to enjoy. It is obvious that with this partnership comes a very strong commitment and determination to build in environmental education and continuous learning through numerous beach cleans, activities and fun days on the beach."

The Best Business Involvement Award

Translink

Judges Comment;

"Translink is one of the few large businesses in Northern Ireland to have a dedicated biodiversity action plan. The plan values community engagement in coastal issues which their transport routes traverse. Special mention should go to Rose Cremin, Ulster Wildlife Trust Biodiversity Officer, who has helped the business in organising beach cleans, contributing greatly to cleaning our coast and getting the local community more involved and interested in protecting these fragile habitats."

The Project of the Year Award

Lecale Conservation

Judges Comment;

"Lecale Conservation has demonstrated a commitment not only to cleaning the local beach at Minerstown but also on caring for its resident seal colony, which in the past have suffered from a barrage of threats including entanglement in fishing litter and ingestion of plastic. The local conservation group has been working to protect these fantastic animals, which constitute the single most important colony in Northern Ireland, through relationships with the council and are currently looking at local legislation with District Council including the potential use of bye-laws."

The Most Committed Volunteer Award

Elena Aceves-Cully (Larne)

Judges Comment;

"Elena has been working year after year to save Browns Bay beach from being buried in litter. She organises beach cleans throughout the year and is not afraid to get her hands dirty when it comes to digging out old tyres and menacing plastic bags from the beach. She also makes sure to keep track of the quantity and different types of litter found on the beach helping us build up a good picture of the problem we have around our coast.

The Coca-Cola Clean Coast Programme Achievement Award

Eric Rainey (Ards)

Judges Comment;

"The amount Eric Rainey has achieved in the last year is evidence of his love and passion for the environment. He was the key player in the award of the first Clean Coast Award in 2008 and was instrumental in establishing the ownership of the local beach. He produced the beaches' first management plan. He actively sought and succeeded in getting the bathing water tested and has established good relationships with the council. If it were not for people like this, fantastic beaches like Cloughey would be all the poorer."

The Coastal Enthusiast Award

Craig Blaney

Judges Comment;

"The environment has always been an issue close to the heart of Craig Blaney and when he first found out about the work of TIDY Northern Ireland and the Clean Coast Programme in particular he was extremely keen that the Young Unionists should get involved. He believes in active communities and has demonstrated this through the time and energy he has put into numerous beach cleans. His infectious enthusiasm is used to encourage others to get involved and be as committed about the coastal environment as he is!"

The Endeavour Award

Joyce Rankin (Coleraine)

Judges Comment;

"Joyce Rankin has worked tirelessly to protect their local coastline and has helped not only in countless beach cleans on the three beaches but has also helped to provide evidence to have Salmon Rock beach at Portballintrae recognised and designated as a bathing beach. She has also lobbied to have the sewage system upgraded. All this was done whilst tackling difficult personal issues."

The Photograph of the Year Award

Dianne Heath (Belfast)

Judges Comment;

"Dianne Heath captured the essence and natural beauty of Northern Ireland's beaches with the shoot of the coastline near Dunluce Castle. The judges were particularly impressed with the use of light giving the photo a very warm welcoming quality. The photo highlights one of the most beautiful areas of our coastline and brings to the fore the need to protect it and keep it this way."

An opportunity has arisen for a secondment within TIDY Northern Ireland. The main duties of the role, as Administative Officer, is to provide administrative support to the Chief Executive and Staff as appropriate and to co-ordinate administrative systems and services, in order to ensure the smooth and efficient functioning of the organisation and its programmes of work.

The job description and application form can be downloaded below. The closing date for applications is 2pm Friday 27th November 2009.

The amount of money spent cleaning up annually after Northern Ireland's litter louts could be used to pay the wages of an additional 1,400 nurses or construct five new schools every year.

At a time when the government are looking to implement spending cuts across vital sectors including health and education, the province's 26 councils are being forced into spending almost £30 million every year trying to clean up the mess left behind by careless litterers.

"When people throw litter on the ground, they might as well be throwing away five pound notes," said TIDY Northern Ireland Chief Executive Dr Ian Humphreys. "It is staggering to think about the huge sums of money that councils have to spend just because people can't be bothered to dispose of their rubbish in the correct manner, and the actions of these people are hitting all of us in the pocket, hiking up our rates at a time when people need every penny."

The annual spend on cleaning litter off the streets varies considerably from one council area to another, with the huge influx of commuters and tourists into Belfast helping place it firmly at the top of the expenditure table. The five biggest spenders per head of population are completed by Moyle, Craigavon, Cookstown and Derry councils.

Provision of a regular and efficient street cleaning service accounts for much of the expenditure, but anti-litter charity TIDY Northern Ireland is keen for councils to also focus on stopping the problem at its source. Dr Humphreys continued, "If councils solely spend money on picking up litter then the problem will never be solved. It's not about how much money we spend but how well we spend it, and TIDY Northern Ireland is encouraging councils to think about addressing the root of the problem and dedicating a significant proportion of those millions towards education, campaigns, enforcement and public engagement. Savings can also be made if councils work together to put across a province wide message that pools resources instead of every borough working individually to achieve the same goal, but ultimately the only way we are going to make long term significant savings is if we stop people dropping litter in the first place."

In a bid to establish collaboration between council districts, TIDY Northern Ireland hosted Northern Ireland's inaugural Litter Summit. Councils from across the province joined with both local and guest speakers from England, Scotland, and the Republic of Ireland to share ideas and experiences and hopefully take another step forward in the ongoing battle against the litter louts. See the Litter Summit pages for more information and presentation downloads.

Councils' Annual Street Cleansing Expenditure

The huge interest generated by TIDY NI's innaugural Litter Summit has meant registrations have had to be closed for the Belfast based event, to be held on Friday 2nd October.

Representatives from 20 of the province's 26 councils are among well over 100 delegates who will attend the summit, which will bring together a broad spectrum of speakers from Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland, England and Scotland, and will address many different areas, including presentations on enforcement, legal issues, anti-social behaviour, litter campaigns, the benefits of new technology, council and business interaction, and public involvement.

This summit is a real opportunity for all councils, in conjunction with other interested parties, to discuss the problems and formulate plans that will drive us towards a new litter-free future. The Litter Summit will provide a better understanding of the range of options available to change littering behaviour and showcase exemplars detailing their impact. Networking opportunities will allow local collaborations to be developed and for us all to work together in pursuit of a cleaner tomorrow.

St. Brigid's Primary School Ballymoney has had a long tradition of promoting environmental awareness amongst pupils, staff and parents. When the school made the decision to apply for the Eco-Schools Green Flag it wanted to do this by promoting the types of learning endorsed by the Revised Primary Curriculum.

Like other schools in the programme, the school identified three targets: the first of which was to reduce waste in the school, secondly to develop global awareness of environmental issues amongst the school community and finally to promote healthy lifestyles.

The initial action planning for the school's green flag bid came form the School ECO Committee, which consisted of elected representatives from classes throughout the school as well as parents and members of staff. The committee very much promoted the new curriculum's emphasis on Thinking Skills & Personal Capabilities with the children Being Creative; using their Thinking, Problem Solving and Decision Making skills as well as being able to develop their personal capabilities through Working Together and Self Management.

This planning model was then cascaded to the year group level and led by the committee representatives in their own classroom. Each class drew up an action plan using an Assessment for Learning approach [again a theme of the revised primary curriculum], where the assessment strategy Two Stars and a Wish was used. The two stars represented things the school or class was doing well, with the wish being the environmental improvement that they planned to bring about.

Throughout the course of the project it was the children themselves who brainstormed the ideas and took responsibility for ensuring that they happened. As a result the ECO garden was created, a fashion show using recycled items took place for parents, fair trade products were bought for use in the school, eating fruit at breaktime rocketed, major education and fundraising activities were held for the developing world charity - Trócaire, recycling took place in each class and in all of these projects it was the children themselves who managed the process.

The Eco-Schools green flag bid also gave the school the opportunity to develop Information Communication Technology [ICT] for a real purpose. Each class uploaded their plans to the school's shared documents ICT platform so that everyone could see each others' plans and updates on their work. This simple initiative also avoided the unnecessary hard copying. Each class completed PowerPoint presentations based on their projects, used Microsoft Publisher for publicity releases, digital cameras to record their achievements as well as using data handling packages to represent statistical information. St. Brigid's PS also took a video diary of their ECO work using hand held Digi-Blu cameras. The development of children's skills in this project alone was extraordinarily successful because as well as promoting high levels of ICT skills [including editing and voice-overs] the children were just as importantly developing problem solving skills as well as their personal capability to self-manage their time and work co-operatively.

Mrs McNally, Vice-Principal and ECO Co-ordinator, summed up the school's evaluation of the project, "St. Brigid's PS, Ballymoney successful Eco-Schools Green Flag bid was very much a modern project aimed at nurturing traditional values of environmental improvement and healthy lifestyles. It is a wonderful programme which requires a great deal of work but is well worth it."

Moneynick Primary School, Randalstown has become the latest recipient of an Eco-Schools Green Flag.

Mrs Emer Hughes and pupils were awarded their first Green Flag on 29 June. Also included in the photo are the assessors Dr Ian Humphreys and Joan Peden from TIDY NI.

Helping Provide Answers to Northern Ireland's Litter Questions
Friday 2nd October 2009

The most comprehensive Litter Summit ever staged in Northern Ireland will be hosted by TIDY Northern Ireland later this year.

With millions of pounds spent annually cleaning the litter off our streets TIDY Northern Ireland is inviting councils (from environmental health, leisure and tourism, technical services departments, litter enforcement officers, dog wardens and anyone else with an interest in a clean Northern Ireland), NILGA, the PSNI, Housing Executive, Community Safety Partnerships, Town Centre Management and other key players to the first NI Litter Summit to share best practice and raise the bar on tackling littering and related issues.

Tailored towards specific litter issues that directly affect the province, speakers from around Northern Ireland, the UK and the Republic of Ireland will share their successes and lessons learnt from past campaigns, enforcement drives and educational activities.

TIDY Northern Ireland is in the business of changing behaviour and this summit will explore the evidence available to demonstrate what approaches work best in achieving this.

We cannot go on simply cleaning up after people. It is time to take a stand against this dirty, antisocial and sometimes dangerous littering habit. Book your place now to help make Northern Ireland a cleaner, safer place to live.

Litter Summit Details:

Date:
Friday 2^nd October 2009

Venue:
Pump-House, Northern Ireland Science Park, Queen's Road, Queen's Island, Belfast. BT3 9DT

Anyone wishing to book a place at the Northern Ireland Litter Summit should contact TIDY Northern Ireland on 028 90 736 920 or email nigel.frazer@tidynorthernireland.org

Further details of the summit agenda will be released shortly.

Northern Ireland's Eco-Schools programme is going from strength to strength, with huge numbers of schools taking up the challenge. St Clare's Convent Primary School in Newry are a recent addition to the Eco-Schools roll of honour, having been rewarded with their Green Flag. In their own words, this is how they did it:

We are very proud to announce that we have, after a year of preparation, won The Green Flag Award! We worked very hard in our school to achieve this great award. We did things such as making a few girls out of each class a member of our action team, we did our litter log once a month, refurbished the nature garden and we also started up a fun Environmental Club every Monday morning. Cliona Patterson and Shannon Kelly also participated in the Environmental Youth Speak and did very well. Patrick McShane also came to give us some advice on how to help us achieve The Green Flag Award. He gave us a talk on composting in our schools and in our homes. We also participated in the "Play For A Day" which helped us go towards winning the award. We are proud that we have won this award and we can't wait to see our Green Flag flying high in our school.

Thank you to Miss Bailey for guiding us and for all her hard work. Thank you to you all for helping us achieve the award. We love our jobs as Environmental Prefects.

Written by Cliona Patterson and Rachael Breen - P7 Environmental Prefects.

The latest edition of the Eco-Schools Newsletter has been released this week, and is now available for download

Volunteers around Northern Ireland are getting ready to do their bit in the fight against coastal pollution as part of the Coca-Cola Clean Coast Week.

Coastal and marine pollution is detrimental not only to marine life on beaches, killing thousands of seabirds and turtles every year, but the millions of pieces of rubbish people drop is also reducing the visual pleasure of Northern Ireland's coastline.

The Clean Coast Programme in association with Coca-Cola HBC Northern Ireland is attempting to halt the build up of rubbish around our coastline and raise awareness of the deadly marine litter washed onto our beaches in every wave.

Events and clean ups are scheduled to take place all around the Northern Ireland coastline from the 30^th May until the 6^th June, so if you would like to join hundreds of other committed volunteers and get involved in an activity in your area, or if you would like to organise a clean up on a beach near you then please follow this link: Coca-Cola Clean Coast Week Events or email: Jennifer.smyth@tidynorthernireland.org or phone: 02890 736 920.

Does Your Council Think its Fine to Drop Litter?

Litter louts in some areas of Northern Ireland are being given licence to pollute our streets with little or no chance of being brought to account for their actions.

That is the shocking conclusion from a recent TIDY Northern Ireland survey which reveals many councils are reluctant to prosecute litterers despite litter levels across the province failing to improve for the first time in four years.*

More than a quarter of all councils issued less than one fixed penalty notice a month for littering during 2008, with one council failing to issue a single fine. In contrast a handful of councils are more proactive in pursuing offenders, with four councils issuing in excess of 100 fines. Top of the list is Belfast City Council, who issued 1,844 fixed penalty notices during the year. Craigavon Borough Council issued fines to almost 500 offenders, while Newtownabbey and Larne Borough Councils also handed out over 100 penalties.

"Issuing litter fines should not be a postcode lottery," said TIDY Northern Ireland Chief Executive Ian Humphreys. "If we are to stop people dropping litter on our streets then we have to make them aware of the consequences, but in many places there simply are no consequences. If there is a good chance of having to pay a £50 fine then people would soon think twice about spoiling the image of our country, ruining the enjoyment of tourists and destroying our chances of attracting inward investment."

Craigavon Borough Council have used 497 Fixed Penalty Notices to back up their anti littering message during 2008, and they believe that alongside other methods of campaigning, the option of fining people is an effective way to minimise the amount of litter on their streets. "Craigavon Borough Council takes the issue of litter extremely seriously and we have adopted a 'zero tolerance' policy on all litter offences," said their Enforcement Manager Trevor Clydesdale. "Through a programme of enforcement and education we aim to provide continual progress towards our Corporate Objectives of improving Craigavon's public places and 'protecting and enhancing the environment'. By making litter a high profile topic we will continue to take the message to the public - 'drop litter and we will fine you'."

Province wide the number of Fixed Penalty Notices for littering has increased slightly over the last 12 months, with the 2008 figure showing an increase of 9% on the 2007 total.

*Figures taken from the 2009 TIDY Northern Ireland Borough Cleanliness Survey

For the first time in four years Northern Ireland's streets have failed to show an improvement in litter levels.

Since 2005 TIDY Northern Ireland's Borough Cleanliness Survey has recorded an annual improvement on the amount of litter strewn across the roads of the province, but the trend of previous years has not been replicated in 2008. While detritus levels have reduced to produce a marginal improvement in overall cleanliness, more than one in ten streets still recorded unacceptable litter levels, a figure matching that of 2007.

The survey studied 840 streets across the province and graded streets according to the levels of litter and detritus present. Overall, 93% of these streets met the approved cleanliness standards, with 96% satisfying detritus requirements but only 89% achieving at least the minimum standards for litter levels.

"It's disappointing to see that after years of improvement we are in danger of reverting to old habits with regard to dropping litter on the streets," said Dr Ian Humphreys, CEO of TIDY Northern Ireland. "These new figures serve as a reminder to everyone that there is no room for complacency, and we must continue to make a real effort to tackle the litter problem. TIDY Northern Ireland, councils and the public have all contributed towards the improvements of recent years and we would encourage everyone to once again focus on the issue and do their bit to ensure we eradicate the unsightly mess on our streets."

In comparison with the 2007 figures, both cigarette litter and chewing gum deposits show an increase in frequency. Cigarette litter was the most common litter type, found on 69% of the streets surveyed, while old chewing gum deposits were found on 58% of streets. Confectionery related litter was the third most common litter type (51%). The occurrence of dog fouling has more than doubled in the past twelve months, to 5%.

Despite attracting a high volume of people, town and city centres proved to be the cleanest areas with only 2% of these locations failing to meet standards. Low density residential areas were next on the list with 4% failing, while peripheral retail developments were shown to be the dirtiest areas of the province with a 13% failure rate. 11% of recreational areas also failed to meet the required cleanliness standards.

"It's shocking to see the dramatic rise in dog fouling, and when put alongside the increase in the big three - cigarette, chewing gum and confectionery - it paints a worrying picture," said Dr Humphreys. "Although our town and city centres are the cleanest areas of Northern Ireland I fear that has a lot to do with the huge amount of resources our councils are having to dedicate to picking up litter. Ultimately the responsibility for our streets should lie in our own hands rather than the hands of our street cleaners. We all have to make an effort to clean up our act if we are to enjoy the full benefits of a clean and pleasant country."

The full 2008 TIDY Northern Ireland Borough Cleanliness Survey Report can be downloaded here:

Coastal enthusiasts including the Portrush Sea Cadets and Christian Youth Fellowship gathered on Portrush, Whiterocks beach on Saturday to celebrate the launch of TIDY Northern Ireland's Clean Coast Programme, spelling out the need for environmental change to protect Northern Ireland's fragile coastline.

Northern Ireland's coastline is enjoyed by over 2 million visitors per year but in order to keep it that way communities must take responsibility for their beaches, keep them clean and uphold their natural beauty. The Clean Coast Programme provides a great way for people to be proactive in doing this.

TIDY Northern Ireland, in association with Coca-Cola HBC Northern Ireland ltd. invites individuals, groups, associations, businesses and organisations (large and small) to join the 'Clean Coast Programme', an exciting new initiative which supports local communities in their efforts to enhance the beauty of coastlines by reducing the impact of litter and other environmental damage.

TIDY NI's National Coastal Officer, Jennifer Smyth commented "It is incredibly important that we continue to manage and protect every coastal region around Northern Ireland, and encourage community involvement through the Clean Coast Programme. Coastal and marine pollution is detrimental not only to marine life on beaches, killing thousands of seabirds and turtles every year, but the millions of pieces of rubbish people drop is also reducing the value of Northern Ireland's coastal heritage.'

Gillian McBrien, PR Executive Coca-Cola HBC Northern Ireland Ltd., said: "We are proud to support the 'Clean Coast Programme'. As a local company we have been investing in community projects for some 70 years and are proud to partner with Tidy NI, an organisation that is committed to protecting our local environment.

We look forward to working with TIDY Northern Ireland in the coming months to encourage coastal communities to become more responsible for their surroundings and improve our beaches for the benefit of visitors and the environment."

If you would like to make a difference in your area then you can get involved by getting in touch with TIDY NI by ringing 02890 736 920 or emailing Jennifer.smyth@tidynorthernireland.org . We would love to hear from you!

Killyleagh Clean Up Day

Clean Coast Programme volunteers have been out and about this weekend giving the shores of Killyleagh a big spring clean. The enthusiastic volunteers included MEP Jim Nicholson from the Ulster Unionist Party, Councillor Edward Rea from Down District Council and seven other UUP members who gave a helping hand on the day.

The volunteers worked over two hours collecting 20 hefty bags of rubbish along the heavily littered shoreline. Items retrieved from the beach included one bed... with mattress included, two chairs, a child's tricycle, a wheel with tyre attached, some cutlery and even some hair combs.

Passers by were very impressed to see the hard work everyone was putting into the beach clean and highly praised all the volunteers. TIDY Northern Ireland's Chief Executive who was also getting stuck in on the day was impressed with the enthusiasm of the volunteers "The fantastic enthusiasm and hard work of these volunteers (and thousands more like them across Northern Ireland) is essential if we are to keep our beaches and country clean. Sadly too many people still see nothing wrong with dropping litter despite the risk to their wallets and the terrible impact on our wildlife, our en

vironment and ultimately, our health."

TIDY NI is delighted that the UUP was willing to get involved in the Clean Coast Programme and hopes this will encourage more political parties to get involved in tackling coastal issues around Northern Ireland.

This clean up comes at the start of what is hoped to be a very busy season for the Clean Coast Programme which aims to get as many volunteers involved in the programme as possible. Marine litter is at its highest ever recorded level so there is no better time to join other like minded volunteers with the goal to make Northern Ireland and our surrounding seas a cleaner, safer place.

For more information about the Clean Coast Programme please follow the link: Clean Coast Programme

Alternatively you can email TIDY Northern Ireland's National Coastal Officer: Jennifer.smyth@tidynorthernireland.org or phone 02890736920.

Eco-Schools continues to grow rapidly with interest in this successful education for sustainable development programme becoming truly global. It is estimated that in 2009, Eco-Schools will involve 6.3 million pupils and 400,000 dedicated teachers. In the past year it has involved 5.5million pupils in 27,000 schools with 5,000 of these attaining the prestigious Green Flag award.

Late in 2008 the National Operators Meeting (NOM) held in Morrocco attracted 57 people from 41 countries (out of 44 countries running Eco-Schools) to discuss how Eco-schools should be developed further to meet the needs of all the participants.

The Eco-Schools NOM 2008 was hosted by the Fondation Mohammed VI pour la Protection de l'Environnement. It was well organised and included a visit to a school working towards its Green Flag (see pictures). At the NOM several key decisions which are relevant to schools in NI were disseminated including:

1. Confirmation that the Permanent Green Flag is not consistent with the aims of the programme and that it needs to be discontinued in countries where this operates.

2. Removal of the need for Waste, Water and Energy to be covered as core subjects. Instead a menu of approximately ten topics will be developed from which schools select three to work towards each Green Flag.

3. Reiteration that following the seven steps process is crucial to reaching Green Flag status and this includes the need for pupils to be actively involved and the whole school to participate.

4. Confirmation that schools must be visited to be assessed at the very least for their first assessment. Thereafter it remains preferred best practice.

5. Biannual assessments are acceptable.

National Operators also heard about exciting research from the Republic of Ireland where Eco-Schools have been shown to send less than half the waste to landfill than non Eco-schools. They use up to a third less electricity and, after studying the transport topic, show a 10% modal shift away from pupils using cars to get to school. They are also saving millions of gallons of water every day. TIDY NI is keen to both encourage schools to start monitoring the impact of working on various topics and to hear from schools that already have statistics on, for example, energy use, water consumption and waste production for their school.

TIDY Northern Ireland is also keen to hear from Eco-Schools wanting to link with schools in another country to help work on specific topics/projects or to link to form a longer lasting/broader relationship.

After an absence of three years, the Seaside Awards are set to return to Northern Ireland. When the awards were last issued there were 14 Seaside Awards around our coast, and now they are being adopted again and will up and running in 2009.

The Seaside Award flag is awarded to beaches which meet mandatory water quality standards according to the EC Bathing Water Directive and are also clean, well managed and safe. The Seaside Award is divided into two award categories, Resort and Rural.

A Resort Seaside Award beach attracts a high volume of visitors and provide lots of facilities e.g. toilets, access for disabled people, car parks, restricted access for dogs and are usually located near towns. There are 29 criteria which assessed before the beach is given an award.

A Rural Seaside Award beach usually attracts less visitors than a resort beach, and is not as developed. This award is given to beaches which are effectively managed and are clean. The beach must meet fifteen criteria to achieve the award.

The TIDY Northern Ireland website has recently welcomed its 100,000 visitor of the year. 2008 has been a record breaking year for the site with more visitors and more downloads than ever before, and we reached the six figure mark a full 6 weeks before the new year.

Items downloaded from the site have also increased recently, with visitors downloading in excess of 4,000 documents every month. The most popular downloads during the year have been the TIDY N.I. Borough Cleanliness Survey Reports, Cigarette Litter, and the Eco-Schools Handbook.

The website provides a wide range of information, from all the latest news about Eco-Schools to advice for running a litter campaign. A download in high demand recently is TIDY Northern Ireland's new Borough Clealiness Survey Proposals, with the amended survey giving councils more choice and value for money than ever before. Other areas that have attracted significant interest are the beach programmes (Blue Flag and Clean Coast) and the TIDY Business scheme which encourages companies to work towards creating a cleaner and greener environment for towns throughout the province.

Listen to your kids - they can save you money and help you beat the recession.

That is the message coming from a growing band of Eco-Schools educated school children throughout Northern Ireland. The internationally acclaimed environmental programme, run by TIDY Northern Ireland, is rapidly expanding through the province's schools, and the lessons being learned by the younger generation are not only benefiting the environment but having an impact on how their families deal with the current financial crisis.

Hannah Alison, a Primary six pupil at Holy Family Primary School in Belfast, is one Eco-Committee member who is re-educating the older generation. "For several years we have been trying to spread the 'Green' message to our parents, and with the current credit crunch we have been amazed at how eager our parents are to hear energy, paper and water saving tips," she revealed. "Some have even expressed interest in our vegetable patch, with one parent remarking that ' the creation of a vegetable patch would be a great way for her and her family to save money.' We are delighted that we are not only helping to save the environment but we are also helping our school and parents to save money."

The Eco-Schools programme encourages children and teenagers to adopt an environmentally friendly attitude on a wide range of topics, and in turn educate their parents and friends in how to implement measures that will have financial benefits. Findings show that Eco-Schools pupils are saving money through the conservation of energy and water, as well as reducing fuel and transport costs by changing the way they travel to school when compared to non Eco-Schools pupils. Schools that have achieved a Green Flag have been able to reduce the amount of waste they produce by an average of 45%, and their pupils are also more likely to participate in local environmental projects, recycle materials within the home and are less likely to drop litter*.

A third of the province's schools are currently registered on the programme, with Holy Family Primary School becoming the 100^th recipient of the prestigious Eco-School Green Flag Award. Coagh Primary School also recently became the 400^th school to register for the scheme, which provides a simple framework to enable schools to analyse its operations and become more sustainable, reducing the environmental impact of the whole school on the community.

"It's great to witness the enthusiasm of school children when it comes to addressing environmental issues," said Dr Ian Humphreys, CEO of TIDY Northern Ireland who runs the programme within the province. "They are not only making their schools more environmentally aware, but they are bringing the message home and reminding their parents of the benefits of living responsibly. Instead of parents complaining about having to delve into their pockets to fund their children's spending, it makes a surprising change to hear parents say their children have helped them save money - something that is particularly relevant in the current financial climate."

Run internationally by the Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE), Eco-Schools involves over five million pupils across 46 countries. In recognition of the efforts of Northern Ireland's pupils and teachers, FEE President, Jan Eriksen, and Director, Finn Bolding Thomsen, have travelled to the province to acknowledge the achievements made by local primary and post primary schools.

"The Eco-Schools Programme has since the start proved to be a very successful programme - valuable to schools as an important environmental management system," said Jan Eriksen, FEE President. "As the President of the Foundation for Environmental Education, I would like to send my best greetings to the Eco-Schools Programme in Northern Ireland. Our member organisation from Northern Ireland, Tidy Northern Ireland, has been running the Eco-Schools Programme very successfully with the Programme now celebrating the award of the 100^th Green Flag."

The Eco-Schools programme is a pupil led initiative that involves the entire school. It deals with topics including Biodiversity, Litter, Waste, Energy, Water, Transport, Healthy Living and School Grounds

A team of volunteers have just completed a clean up of Browns Bay beach, Islandmagee as part of the Marine Conservation Society's (MCS) Beachwatch 2008, the UK's biggest national beach litter survey and clean-up.

Local volunteers helped to make a practical difference to their local beach by removing rubbish from the whole stretch of beach. The rubbish collected was also recorded, so that the main sources of the litter could be identified. The beach litter survey recorded a total of 172 items. The 5 most common litter items recorded on the day were cigarette butts, ceramic and glass pieces, fishing line/net/rope, mesh and plastic bags and plastic crisp/sweet wrappers. Unusual items found included a large section of a manhole cover, sand bags and large pieces of wood.

The beach survey showed that the major source of beach litter was beach visitors, who forget to use public bins when taking food or drink or having a smoke.

Elena Aceves-Cully, local organiser of the event, added: "Often people who visit the beach do not use bins provided, spoiling the beach for other visitors. Larne Council need to ensure that adequate bins are provided and emptied regularly, but most importantly individuals must take responsibility for their own actions, and remember never to leave litter on the beach. It was also disappointing to find several dog faeces, despite the fact that dog litter bins are available nearby. All participants expressed an interest in doing this again in the future. I think it is a great way to make children in particular more aware of litter and of the need of keeping beaches clean."

Larne Borough Council, which employs a beach cleaner during the summer months, readily supported the event. Elena expressed her gratitude to the Council for its help: "I would like to thank Larne Borough Council and in particular the Countryside Officer, Linda Foy for all the support they have given us and their efficiency in providing us with cleaning equipment and materials as well as in picking up the rubbish after the event. I am also very grateful to Jennifer Smith from Tidy NI for helping me to organise the event and for providing Coca-cola sponsored soft drinks."

Introducing an initiative to boost the number of yellow school buses for primary schools across Great Britain could save parents up to £92m a year in petrol costs and reduce carbon emissions by 55,000 tonnes a year.

The Yellow School Bus Commission, chaired by the former Education Secretary, David Blunkett, said it could "revolutionise" the school run after it was revealed the numbers of children being driven to school by car had doubled in the past 20 years.

It was found that 41% of primary school pupils and 21% of post-primary school pupils were being taken to school by car - accounting for 20% of car journeys during the morning rush hour and about one million tonnes of CO2 each year.

The commission recommends that, for children living less than a mile from primary school or two miles from post-primary school, they should be encouraged to walk or cycle, while there should be a dedicated bus service for those living further away.

TIDY Northern Ireland runs Eco-Schools - the international programme for environmental education for sustainability. As a process of facilitating sustainable development at a local level, pupils are encouraged to take an active role in practical steps to reduce the environmental impact of the school. The Eco-Schools Transport topic encourages pupils, staff and local government to work together to raise awareness of transport issues and come up with practical solutions that will make a difference to pupils' everyday lives.

For more information on the Eco-Schools programme, visit www.eco-schools.org.uk

Eight beaches have been awarded the Green Coast Award by TIDY Northern Ireland for their natural unspoilt beauty.

The new award programme, which is sponsored by Coca Cola Bottlers (Ulster) Ltd, aims to improve and promote the local environment through water quality, safety, litter and waste, and information and education on the beach. The beaches at Benone Strand, Portrush West Strand, Portrush Whiterocks, Downhill, Cranfield, Murlough Beach, Tyrella and Millisle have become the first winners of the award.

"In this, the opening year for the award in Northern Ireland, we have seen incredible enthusiasm and commitment from community groups and volunteers in working to clean up their local beaches," said Jennifer Smyth, Coastal Officer with TIDY Northern Ireland. "We have some of the most beautiful coastline in the world, but all too often the potential of our beaches goes unfulfilled. The efforts made by the recipients of today's awards should act as an inspiration, and hopefully their example will be followed by others and we will have many more beaches receiving recognition for their efforts in the coming years."

Gillian McBrien, Public Relation Executive for Coca-Cola Bottlers (Ulster) Ltd., said: "We are proud to support the 'Green Coast Awards' and 'Clean Coasts Programme'. As a local company we have been investing in community projects for some 70 years and are proud to partner with Tidy Northern Ireland, an organisation that is committed to protecting our local environment and championing environmental change for coastlines throughout Northern Ireland."

In addition to the beach operators, the programme has inspired volunteers and community groups to carry out litter picks and clean ups along Northern Ireland's coastline in a bid to restore their natural beauty. Areas all over Northern Ireland have contributed to the programme and worked towards the awards including Ards, Newry and Mourne, Larne, Newtownabbey, Coleraine and North Down.

The programme organisers have acknowledged the special efforts of volunteers and community groups in the Larne area, awarding them the Clean Coast Programme Achievement Award after concerted clean up operations at three of their local beaches, Browns Bay, Ballygally and Carnlough.

Commenting on this special recognition, Deputy Mayor of Larne Borough Council, Councillor Gerardine Mulvenna said, "On behalf of all the citizens of Larne, I'd like to express appreciation to both the staff of the Council and the civic-minded citizens who have contributed to the beautification of our beaches with their efforts. We are fortunate to live in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and this award is a result of their contributions to maintaining our beaches so well."

The Clean Coast Programme targets beaches throughout the province, and differs from similar schemes such as the Blue Flag programme as it acknowledges rural beaches which do not undergo intensive management programmes or installation of numerous facilities.

Civic-minded local volunteers helped clean the beach at Carnlough Saturday afternoon at low tide. Organised by Larne Borough Council together with Tidy NI, volunteers from the community, including the Carnlough Community Association and the Marine Conservation Society helped to tidy the beach.

Among the items recovered was a car battery, a tractor tire, and a traffic cone encrusted with barnacles. In total, more than a dozen bags of debris was collected and taken for disposal by Council staff.

"We're very grateful to the people who came along on Saturday to make the event a success," said Lynda Foy, Countryside Officer for Larne Borough Council. "We're also grateful to the majority of citizens who take their litter home when visiting our beaches. Their efforts help to reduce the amount of time Council staff need to spend cleaning the beaches. This frees their time for other tasks including tending flower beds, looking after grass verges and generally keeping the Borough looking good."

Saturday's beach clean was the Council's third of the season, following on the success of previous events at Ballygalley on World Oceans Day 8^th June, and Brown's Bay beach 28^th June. It comes just a few days before Tidy NI's "Clean Coast" Awards programme, set for Wednesday at the Londonderry Arms Hotel.

Larne Borough Council manages almost 80 miles of world-renowned coastline in County Antrim, within an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

A car door, a bicycle and a plastic bottle washed ashore from Holland were among the more unusual items removed from Nicholson's Strand, Kilkeel during a recent litter pick organised by TIDY Northern Ireland.

Local volunteers, supplied with a skip and litter picking equipment from Newry and Mourne District Council and refreshments courtesy of Coca Cola, spent almost four hours cleaning up the shoreline. Among ten bins bags full of litter, the group also recovered four car tyres, a fridge, machinery grease from Finland, the remainder of some helium balloons from England, a milk carton from Wales, three different shoes, an unopened bottle of cooking oil, pants, hundreds of plastic bottles and a selection of empty shotgun cartridges.

The picturesque beach is working towards becoming a recipient of TIDY Northern Ireland's new 'Green Coast' award sponsored by Coca Cola Bottlers (Ulster) Ltd. The accolade is presented to rural beaches that are taking positive steps towards improving the coastline of Northern Ireland.

Following the litter pick, Jennifer Smyth, Coastal Officer with TIDY Northern Ireland, called on people to take more pride in their beaches. "A beach polluted with litter does nothing to promote a positive image of the area, and it is great to see the local community making a real effort to restore Nicholson's Strand to its natural state," she said. "There was a substantial amount of litter, but thanks to the hard work of everyone who volunteered their services the beach is now a much more pleasant place to visit. The battle against litter is ongoing however, and it requires the cooperation of everyone using the beach to ensure that it remains clean and tidy. I would appeal to people not to discard their rubbish on the beach, but instead put their waste in an appropriate place and ensure we have a coastline that we can be proud of."

The Clean Coast Programme aims to enhance the value of our coastline by reducing the impact of litter and other environmental damage, restoring the aesthetic appeal and increasing the amenity and economic value to the community and visitors.

Beijing has mounted a huge litter offensive in its bid to project a positive image of the city during the Olympics, but while efforts to clean the streets are to be lauded, it should be an initiative that is implemented every day, every year, and in every country of the world regardless of special occasions.

We deserve to live in an environment that is clean and free from litter, yet not only in Beijing but in towns and cities across Northern Ireland and the rest of the world, the litter conscious motorists and pedestrians often only emerge for special occasions.

In a bid to counteract the negative publicity that air pollution has generated, Beijing has been pulling out all the stops to ensure their streets are as clean as their skies are dirty. In the past few months local authorities have increased litter penalties, launched anti-litter campaigns and hired tens of thousands of migrant workers to clean the streets. Rubbish bins are being emptied every few minutes, recycle bins are everywhere, with separate containers for paper waste, bottles and food, and the straw-hatted workers are sweeping the gutters, tending roadside flowerbeds and even wiping down litter bins. Their efforts are an indication of how important the litter issue is when trying to project a positive image of your local environment.

With a TIDY Northern Ireland survey revealing that the majority of the province's population do not believe we live in a clean country, perhaps if the Olympic attitude was replicated on a daily basis closer to home then we could boast streets worthy of a gold medal.

Ballymacash Primary School has become the 200^th school in the province to receive a Bronze Eco-Schools Award.

Under the direction of Mr Reilly, the primary six classes carried out an Environmental Review of the school complex identifying issues where improvements could be made. Having registered for the programme last year, they now hope to achieve a Silver award by December, before progressing to an Eco-Schools Green Flag.

To reach the Bronze award each school has to meet defined criteria including setting up an Eco-Committee and undertaking an Environmental Review which forms the basis for their Action Plan for environmental activities.

Once registered, schools follow a simple seven step process which helps them to address a variety of environmental themes, ranging from litter and waste to healthy living and biodiversity. Children are the driving force behind Eco-Schools: they lead the Eco-Committee and help carry out an audit to assess the environmental performance of their school. Through consultation with the rest of the school and the wider community it is the pupils who decide which environmental themes they want to address and how they are going to do it. Measuring and monitoring is an integral part of the Eco-Schools programme, providing schools with all the evidence they need to really shout about their environmental success.

Schools work towards gaining one of three awards: Bronze, Silver and the prestigious Green Flag award, which symbolises excellence in the field of environmental activity.

Joining the Eco-Schools programme is free and it makes tackling sustainability issues manageable and easy, whether the schools are nurseries, primary schools, post-primary schools or schools with special status.

There are currently over 400 schools registered in the province - approximately one third of all Northern Ireland schools.

For more information or to register your school visit www.eco-schools.org.uk

Most people believe the residents of Northern Ireland are the main contributors to the poor state of the environment in which we live, according a poll on the TIDY Northern Ireland website.

The recent poll showed that 49% of respondents believed residents were primarily responsible for the litter strewn across our roads and parks. The poll comes in the wake of a TIDY Northern Ireland attitudinal survey which indicated that more than half of the population did not view Northern Ireland as a tidy country.

Councils were also perceived to be part of the problem with 20% of voters believing their local authority was not doing enough to counteract the litter problem, while 15% pointed towards young people when asked to identify the group most to blame.

Seven percent indicated that poor laws and guidelines issued by the Northern Ireland Assembly played a major part in the problem, while four percent reckoned government agencies such as the Department of the Environment and the Environment and Heritage Service could do more.

The poll asked the question: "A recent TIDY Northern Ireland survey revealed people do not think we live in a clean country. Who do you think is most to blame for the poor quality of Northern Ireland's environment"

Almost 500 votes were received, and the results are detailed below:

Staff from Carrickfergus NIR & Ulsterbus, Jordanstown NIR and Downpatrick Ulsterbus facilities are celebrating, following their achievement of "Gold Level" awards in the TIDY Translink Awards programme.

The TIDY Translink awards have been developed through the partnership between Translink and TIDY Northern Ireland and are designed to encourage staff to take pride in their facilities and their immediate environment.

Greg McKernan, Inspector, Downpatrick Ulsterbus is delighted to be the only Ulsterbus facility to achieve a Gold award and says, "The thanks are to the staff, especially Paul Savage for all his hard work in keeping Downpatrick Depot in top shape. These awards show the staff, customers and local community, Translink's commitment to a cleaner environment".

In 2007, 31 Translink facilities received Bronze and Silver level awards, with 3 additional facilities excelling to achieve Gold!

Melanie Gibson, Environment Officer, TIDY Northern Ireland said, "the Gold awards are a great achievement and give recognition to the staff at the facilities for all their hard work and commitment to enhancing their workplace, the environment around them and the community in which they serve."

Frank Moore, Line Manager with Northern Ireland Railways, was also quick to recognise the value of the award scheme. "The TIDY Translink awards are a positive step towards changing attitudes and behaviour both with staff and the public, with regards to the environment and littering throughout Translink facilities and the surrounding areas," he said.

The 2008 assessments are due to get under way shortly with staff and managers working to maintain and improve on their performances in 2007.

Local volunteers removed a step ladder and a pair of trousers from the beach at Brown's Bay, Islandmagee as they took part in a litter pick organised by Larne Borough Council and TIDY Northern Ireland.

During the summer months Brown's Bay attracts visitors from all over the province, but the image of the beach is being tarnished by litter accumulating in an area that was once renowned for its natural beauty.

Brown's Bay is striving to become a recipient of TIDY Northern Ireland's new 'Green Coast' award sponsored by Coca Cola Bottlers (Ulster) Ltd. The accolade is presented to rural beaches that are taking positive steps towards improving the coastline of Northern Ireland, and the community around Islandmagee has come together to help their beach become an award winner.

In addition to the more bizarre items found on the beach, the group also removed glass, plastic bags and numerous bin liners full of carelessly discarded waste.

Jennifer Smyth, coastal officer with TIDY Northern Ireland said "It is great to see local people taking pride in their area, and actively coming out and doing something to improve the image of what should be a beautiful beach. Litter on our beaches is becoming an increasing concern, and whether the unwanted items are left by visitors or washed up from the sea, the image of a litter strewn beach is one that instantly detracts from the appeal of enjoying what should be a great natural environment for both local families and tourists alike. It's great to see local people getting involved and making a real effort to clean up their beach."

The Clean Coast Programme aims to enhance the value of our coastline by reducing the impact of litter and other environmental damage, restoring the aesthetic appeal and increasing the amenity and economic value to the community and visitors.

Fermanagh and Strabane are celebrating their first Eco-Schools Green Flags following presentations to both Kesh and St Columbas Primary Schools.

Kesh Primary School first got involved in the Eco-Schools programme in September 2006 and since then the school has focused on one priority area each year. For their Bronze award the pupils decided to focus on energy saving; for their Silver award they looked at litter issues, while for the Green Flag the school looked at all different kinds of recycling.

Naomi Morrison, Eco-Schools Coordinator at Kesh PS, says that the children have been very proactive making posters, using the recycling bins as well as recycling everything from ink cartridges to cardboard to milk cartons to mobile phones. The pupils have even recycled some old clothes and sheets and old jewellery.

"It's great to get the award," said Naomi. "It's an excellent scheme and something the kids take a real interest in,"

Eco-Schools Assessors who visited St Columba's praised the school for making the best use of the grounds, stating that pupil participation across the whole schools was excellent.

Mrs Maguire, Principal said, 'We are thrilled to receive this award, which recognises all the hard work that everybody connected with the school has put in, especially the pupils who were the driving force behind the Eco-Schools Programme. The ultimate objective is much more important than winning the award however. It is to make good citizens of our pupils so that they will go through life with an awareness of the environment and a strong desire to take care of it.'

Eco-Schools is an international programme promoting environmental awareness in schools. It works by involving the whole school - pupils, teachers, non-teaching staff and governors - together with members of the local community - parents, the local council, the media and local businesses. The prestigious Green Flag is awarded to schools who meet the top level criteria for each of the seven elements of the Eco-Schools process.

For more information about the Eco-Schools programme, visit www.eco-schools.org.uk

Despite the province achieving seven Blue Flag Beaches for 2008 for the second consecutive year, litter levels on our beaches have increased by a massive 124% according to a survey conducted by the Marine Conservation Society's Beach Watch.

Marine litter around Northern Ireland is a major problem which is often overlooked until it accumulates on our beaches. The litter found on our beaches is potentially damaging and even life threatening to the creatures which live on our beaches and below the waterline, not to mention people who can be injured when the litter is sharp. It is about time action was taken.

Plastic is the main contributor to the vast amount of litter washed up on our beaches every year - a total of 50% of litter found in our ocean is plastic. Plastic bags have been noted as one of the most dangerous forms of litter due to their likeness to jellyfish when floating in the water column which look particularly tasty to animals like sea turtles. Fishing lines and nets can also become deadly if they are lost from a vessel, leaving a 'ghost net' to travel the seas entangling and drowning cetaceans and birds which can sometimes be found washed up on our shores. It is estimated that 1 million seabirds and over 100 000 sea turtles and mammals die each year as a result of this litter.

Items of litter also include wood, paper and cardboard, rubber, metals, sanitary items, cloth and glass. These types of litter can come from a variety of sources including: shipping, fly tipping, recreational and leisure usage and the fishing industry. All these objects can cause injuries to both animals and humans.

Although it is difficult to control the vast amount of litter which is emptied in to our seas every year we can make a difference by leaving nothing on the beach when we leave to go home and even organise a beach clean to get everyone involved, which can be done through the TIDY Northern Ireland Clean Coast Programme.

Our beaches are one of our best recreational areas and where some of our most beautiful and interesting wildlife live. Beach litter is not only an eyesore but a huge global problem and action urgently needs to be taken to arrest the growing marine threat.

Seven beaches in Northern Ireland have been bestowed the prestigious Blue Flag award for 2008 for having litter-free sands and clean bathing waters - the same number as last year.

Downhill Beach beside Castlerock returns to the list of winners having missed out in 2007, and receives the internationally acclaimed recognition along with Tyrella and Cranfield Bay in Co Down, Portrush West Strand, Portrush Whiterocks, Benone Strand and Portstewart.

Ian Humphreys, Chief Executive of TIDY Northern Ireland the charity who runs the Blue Flag programme in the province, said: "It is great that we can offer beach goers the opportunity to avail of a coastline maintained to such a high standard and these awards are testament to the efforts of everyone who looks after these areas. The beach operators have put in a lot of hard work to provide top class facilities, and I would now appeal to the public to do their bit. We should all take pride in our beaches and everyone can help by disposing of their rubbish in the proper manner, so we can all continue to enjoy the summer sunshine amid clean and pleasant surroundings."

Northern Ireland's seven beaches are among 85 throughout Ireland to receive the prestigious accolade. The award winning beaches were presented their Blue Flags at a cross border presentation ceremony sponsored by Northern Ireland Tourist Board and supported by Coca Cola. The event was jointly attended by John Gormley TD, Minister of the Environment and Heritage and Local Government, and Roy Ramsay, Director of Environmental Protection with the Environment and Heritage Service.

"I am delighted to have the opportunity to present the 2008 Blue Flag Awards to the Northern Ireland beach operators," said Dr Ramsay. "It is a wonderful sign of the times that we are participating in this all island event highlighting the importance of cross border co-operation. I would like to thank the Tourist Boards for their sponsorship of the event, as well as the Councils, National Trust and other independent beach operators who are to be applauded for recognising the importance of these awards for tourism across the island. I would like to encourage other local authorities and beach operators to apply for these internationally recognised awards which celebrate both our beautiful coastline and its management for all to enjoy."

The Blue Flag Awards scheme is an International initiative designed to highlight the world's best beaches, and the seven Northern Ireland Blue Flag winners are among over 2,500 beaches awarded the accolade from 31 countries in the Northern hemisphere, all of which display the same high standards.

A Blue Flag beach must satisfy 29 different criteria including litter-free sands, bathing water that meets guideline standard, safe access to the beach for everyone, good, well maintained facilities and life saving equipment.

Northern Ireland Blue Flag Beaches 2008

Re-entry: Downhill

Out from last year: Portrush Curran

Staff at Bangor NIR station joined forces with North Down Borough Council this week to take park in the Councils annual Spring Clean week.

They rolled up their sleeves to collect litter and spruce up the area outside Bangor bus and rail centre.

"First impressions count and in order to provide a better travelling experience for all our passengers we work hard to maintain a high standard of cleanliness throughout Bangor bus and rail centre" says David Johnston, railway inspector for Translink in Bangor.

"As part of our contribution to spring clean week we will take additional steps to clean up the car park and surrounding area. With many hands on deck we hope to be able to make a big difference to the site. We want to encourage the local community to take pride in their local station and local area"

The litter pick at Bangor bus and rail centre is only one of a number of activities taking place throughout the borough. Spring Clean week is a North Down Borough Council initiative working with TIDY Northern Ireland and Bangor and Hollywood Town Centre Management

Explorer Ben Fogle was at Ballyholme this week to launch TIDY Northern Ireland's Green Coast Award which is supported by Coca-Cola Bottlers (Ulster Ltd).

This brand new award is a symbol of environmental excellence, aimed at rural beaches in Northern Ireland that may not have the facilities associated with resort beaches. The Green Coast Award aims to acknowledge, promote and protect the natural, unspoilt environment of these beaches. The award is a unique opportunity for well managed beaches which have the highest standards of water quality but which have not yet had a chance to be recognised with an award due to the rural nature of the beach.

Speaking about his enthusiasm for the Green Coast Award, Ben Fogle said "Northern Ireland is world famous for its dramatic and beautiful coastlines but in order to keep it that way, local communities must take responsibility for their beaches, keep them clean and uphold their natural beauty. The Green Coast Award provides a great incentive for people to be pro-active in doing this."

Pollution is detrimental not only to marine life on beaches and coastlines but it also reduces visual pleasure for visitors. Commenting on the extent of the problem, Ian Humphreys, Chief Executive of TIDY Northern Ireland, said: "Litter is causing a huge problem on rural beaches and shorelines in Northern Ireland. It is unattractive to tourists but worse than that, it's polluting our waters and shorelines and even interrupting the aquatic ecosystem. Through the Green Coast Award we will be appealing to local communities to be more aware of their behaviour and the affect it is having on their beaches."

You can get involved in the Green Coast Award by setting up a Clean Coast Programme Group in your area.

For more information ring 0845 86 206 86 or email: jennifer.smyth@tidynorthernireland.org

TIDY NI has just awarded its 21^st Permanent Eco-Schools Green Flag in Northern Ireland - and it goes to a Playgroup!

The Country Playgroup in Ballymena was recently visited by Eco-Schools assessors who were very impressed with the eco-activities carried out there by the pre-schoolers at this small rural setting.

The assessors commented, "The school performs very well in all aspects of the Eco-Schools programme - in particular litter, waste, recycling, transport and school grounds. 25% of all parents car share - which is impressive. The children are remarkably knowledgeable about and show a keen interest in recycling, nature etc."

The Country Playgroup has been involved with the Eco-Schools programme for eight years and since then has been awarded three other Green Flags. The prestigious Permanent Green Flag has only been awarded to 20 other schools in NI.

And it has just been confirmed that first nursery school anywhere in the world to be awarded a Green Flag is in Northern Ireland. Downpatrick Nursery was the first nursery school to reach Green Flag status in June 1994.

Eco-Schools is an international programme working in 42 countries promoting environmental awareness in schools. It works by involving the whole school - pupils, teachers, non-teaching staff and governors - together with members of the local community - parents, the local council, the media and local businesses. The prestigious Green Flag is awarded to schools who meet the top level criteria for each of the seven elements of the Eco-Schools process. The Permanent Green Flag is given to schools who are actively involved in continuously improving their environmental performance.

For more information and to register your school with Eco-Schools, visit www.eco-schools.org.uk

TIDY Northern Ireland welcomes Dr Ian Humphreys as their new Chief Executive Officer.

After 14 years with Conservation Volunteers Northern Ireland, the new CEO replaces Ian Cole, who is taking early retirement after six successful years in the post. During Ian Cole's time TIDY Northern Ireland has gone from strength to strength, and he hands over an organisation that is well equipped to tackle the environmental and litter problems that face the province.

Married with three children and living in South Belfast, Ian Humphreys' strong environmental credentials include a background in agricultural zoology with degrees from The University of Leeds and The Queen's University of Belfast, research experience in biochemistry and forestry, and hobbies such as bird surveying and helping to manage Lighthouse Island ASSI.

Whilst with CVNI Ian was responsible for developing, managing and fundraising for a range of successful initiatives all encouraging people to take practical action to improve their local environment. These included the schools-based 'Growth in Grounds', the 'Millennium Tree Campaign' (in which 80,000 people helped to plant 1.5 million trees across Northern Ireland), 'Environments for All' working with disadvantaged and ethnic minority communities and the well known 'Green Gym' health project.

He is now eagerly looking forward to bringing this experience to bear on the new challenges awaiting him at TIDY Northern Ireland, including getting Northern Ireland Tidy!

TIDY Northern Ireland and Translink are calling on local communities to tackle environmental issues and take pride in their neighbourhood.

Both organisations are committed to improving the local environment and are keen to work with local schools and communities to develop educational awareness and projects that benefit the local community, addressing issues like anti-social behaviour as well as helping to improve the appearance of facilities for the benefit of the communities in which Translink facilities reside.

TIDY Northern Ireland is in the 3^rd year of a working partnership with Translink, helping them to address Local Environmental Quality issues that face Northern Irelands public transport providers. The aim of the partnership is to improve the local environmental quality of Translink facilities and infrastructure, and through this promote awareness of environmental problems and change behaviour accordingly, enhancing Translink facilities and involving local communities in environmental projects in and around Translink facilities.

The types of projects that TIDY NI and Translink are developing include litter picks, legal graffiti, biodiversity planting and habitats and adopt-a-station. The partnership is also keen to run programmes relating to the environmental campaigns developed by TIDY NI in a bid to raise awareness amongst young people about environmental quality issues. It is hoped that these efforts will change behaviour about anti-social behaviour effecting Translink facilities such as graffiti and illegal dumping.

Please contact Melanie Gibson, TIDY NI Environment Officer on 0845 86 206 86, via email at melanie.gibson@tidynorthernireland.org if you would like to be involved in a project.

TIDY Northern Ireland in association with Coca-Cola is running the very first Clean Coast Awards in Northern Ireland and has now begun accepting entries. Designed to acknowledge the excellent work of individuals and groups involved in the volunteering up and down our coast, the awards recognise the vital role volunteers play in protecting our fragile coastal environment.

If you think your group deserves an award for the work carried out on a coastal project, or if there is an individual in your group who you think is so inspiring they deserve to be recognised for their contribution to protecting the Northern Ireland coastline then TIDY NI want to hear from you.

The awards for both committed groups and hard working individuals distinguish volunteering that goes on all around Northern Ireland throughout the year that often goes unrecognised and will be presented at Stormont on Thursday 22^nd October

Entrants must be aged 12 and over and can include groups, individuals and businesses who feel they have made a difference to help protect and conserve our coastline.

A panel of judges will select the ten finalists who will each receive £200 worth of equipment for their group or £100 worth of equipment for each individual finalist.

Entries must be submitted by Monday 21^st September and there is no entry fee. For more information and to download an entry form please click here: Coca-Cola Clean Coast Awards or phone 028 90 736 920.

Many of the councils within Northern Ireland regard the cleanliness of our environment as a low priority and some have never issued a fine to discourage litter on our streets, despite more than 50% of the public believing Northern Ireland is not a clean country*.

Those are the findings of a TIDY Northern Ireland litter fine survey which also reveals that a third of councils have never taken enforcement action through the courts, and more than half of the councils have not mounted an anti litter campaign in the past twelve months.

The survey, commissioned by the Environment and Heritage Service, received responses from 24 of the 26 councils within the province, and the findings revealed huge variations from council to council in the way they deal with litter offences. The most proactive council have issued almost 3,000 Fixed Penalty Notices (FPNs) over the past four years, while one council has failed to issue a single FPN since the introduction of the Litter Order 2004 which entitles council officers to fine offenders £50.

Similarly, the inactivity of some councils when it comes to court prosecutions is in stark contrast to their neighbouring boroughs. Eight of the 24 councils have not begun any court prosecutions under the Litter Act, and of those that have more than a third have failed on at least one occasion to receive the backing of the courts.

"There appears to be a huge variation among councils on their stance towards people who litter, and it is causing confusion among the public," said Chief Executive of TIDY Northern Ireland Ian Cole. "In some areas you are likely to get hit with a £50 fine for dropping litter, while doing exactly the same thing in a different council borough doesn't even get you a slap on the wrist from the authorities. If people realise they are not going to get fined for littering then there is no deterrent to prevent them from polluting our streets. If we are to clean up Northern Ireland and make it a more pleasant place to live or visit then councils need to adopt a standardised approach to the problem and make it clear to offenders that their actions will not be tolerated."

* Findings of TIDY Northern Ireland's 2007 Attitudinal Survey, which examined responses from almost 1,700 respondents across the province.

A new TIDY Northern Ireland programme is set to land on our shores for the first time this year. The Clean Coast Programme will boost efforts to clean up our coastline and will offer recognition for good management practice on our more rural beaches.

This month saw the launch of the Clean Coast Programme partnership in Carlingford with An Taisce (the Irish National Trust who have been running the programme successfully for a number of years) and Coca-Cola Ulster Bottlers Ltd. who are acting as the associate sponsor of the new Northern Ireland programme

The new programme has been running in Wales and the Republic of Ireland for some years and has proved very popular with communities and coastal authorities. The programme consists of an award scheme, 'The Green Coast Award' and 'The Programme'. The Green Coast Award will recognise rural beaches which are well managed and have active guardianship and 'The Programme' will directly involve local communities in clean ups and many other environmental activities.

TIDY Northern Ireland Chief Executive Ian Cole, commented on the increasing litter problem on our beaches, "Local beaches and coastlines play an important part in the lives of our coastal communities but litter is causing a huge problem. It is polluting our island's waters and shorelines and even interrupting the aquatic ecosystem. Through this campaign we will be appealing to local communities to be more aware of their behaviour and the affect it is having on their beaches. When taking part in pastimes such as walking, fishing or water-sports we would urge people not to litter and if they see litter to pick it up and put it where it's meant to go - in the bin - not in our water and on our beaches."

The new programme is a chance to clean up our coastline improving conditions for the wildlife and also for tourism. Most importantly it is an opportunity to get local people involved in actively caring for their coastal environment and to have fun!

If you would like to find out more about the Clean Coast Programme please contact: jennifer.smyth@tidynorthernireland.org or phone 0845 86 206 86.

The Clean Coast Programme is sponsored by Coca-Cola Ulster Bottlers Ltd

The cleanliness of our streets has improved for the third year in succession, but a rising tide of sweet wrappers and cigarette butts is threatening to reverse the trend.

Those are part of the findings of an extensive TIDY Northern Ireland survey that has shown that 92% of streets met government cleanliness guidelines during 2007. While this is an improvement on the 13% failure rate of the previous year, both cigarette litter and confectionery related litter has been on the increase during the same period.

"It is pleasing to see confirmation that Northern Ireland is getting cleaner, but it is a constant battle to keep litter off our streets and we are now seeing some worrying trends that need to be addressed immediately," said TIDY Northern Ireland spokesman Nigel Frazer. "Sadly it is no surprise to see an increase in cigarette litter following the introduction of the public smoking ban, but the dramatic rise in confectionery litter is an unexpected and worrying development. This form of litter is now outnumbering old chewing gum deposits for the first time, and if we are to continue reporting improvements in cleanliness levels then people need to change their attitudes immediately. It requires very little effort to hold onto rubbish until you are near a suitable place to dispose of it, but people's careless attitude to the problem means councils are forced to spend huge chunks of the rate payer's money on cleaning up the mess we leave in our wake."

Over the past year surveyors have scrutinised almost 1,000 public sites in the province's largest annual litter survey, searching for litter and dirt on the pavements and recording the types and sources of litter across a variety of different land use types. The Borough Cleanliness Survey revealed that cigarette litter is present on almost half of our streets, with confectionery litter found on 38% of areas surveyed. While dog fouling is regarded as one of the worst forms of litter it was found to be one of the least frequent offenders, being found on only one in twenty areas.

Nigel Frazer continued, "It is pleasing to note that in a recently published report by Keep Britain Tidy in England they have shown an increase in litter on their streets whereas here in Northern Ireland we are showing a decrease - something to be pleased about!"

For the second year in a row Peripheral Retail Developments outside town and city centres returned the poorest results, while there also proved to be a significant difference between the cleanliness levels in low density and high density residential areas. Areas of low density housing received an impressive 98% pass rate, while in contrast more than one in ten areas of higher density housing failed to meet the required standards.

Sample of the Borough Cleanliness Survey findings:

Litter Pollution Index - 11% failure rate

Detritus Pollution Index - 5% failure rate

Cleanliness Pollution Index - 8% failure rate

Land Use Types - failure rates:

Top 3: Low Density Housing 2%; Town & City Centres 5%; Rural 6%.

Bottom 3: Peripheral Retail 21%; High Density Housing 11%; Recreational 11%.

Most Common Litter Types - Percentage of areas polluted:

Cigarette Litter - 48%; Confectionery - 38%; Old Chewing Gum - 34%

The condition of the province's beaches is set for a boost following the release of a new marine bill which will encourage better use of our marine resources, improve marine biodiversity and reduce the amount of litter on our coastline.

The UK's coastal and marine environments are some of the most beautiful in the world, especially here in Northern Ireland. We are lucky enough to live within a few hours of Strangford Lough, the Antrim Coastline, the Causeway Coast and many beautiful beaches. These places, which are often taken for granted, contain a delicate and diverse range of biology which is constantly under threat and in need of greater protective measures.

The Draft of the Marine Bill is an encouraging step towards securing improved preservation of these areas. The bill, which was released earlier this month, includes plans to improve marine spatial planning ensuring more sustainable, efficient use and protection of our marine resources along with changes in marine licensing, fisheries management and marine enforcement. Additionally, proposals have been put forward for better coastal and estuarine management including schemes to reduce marine litter which ultimately ends up on our beaches. One of the most important proposals brought forward by the draft will be the introduction of new tools for marine nature conservation which will attempt to halt the deterioration of the UK's marine biodiversity.

The Marine Bill is a step towards coordinating UK marine law enabling new planning and conservation powers to better protect this incredibly important resource which is often forgotten. These changes which will affect the food we eat, the energy we use and the way see our coastline in the future and is an urgently needed piece of legislation which many will be relieved to see implemented.

The media recently has focused on the problem of plastic in the mid Pacific Ocean on Midway Island where it is causing major problems to the local wildlife inhabitants and many people here in Northern Ireland may be saying "what is that to do with us" - well the answer is everything.

In Northern Ireland an estimated 1 billion bags a year are in use at any one time. It costs supermarkets around half a penny to produce one typical plastic bag, with retailers spending up to £80 million per year on providing plastic bags to their customers. Did you also know that plastic bags account for up to 1% of visible litter, 2% of total litter on beaches, 0.3% of the domestic waste stream and between 3.5 - 5.3% of total plastic packaging used.

Some people are making an effort, with 80% of consumers currently re-using their plastic bags at least once for a variety of purposes, such as bin-liners, nappy sacks or lunch bags, but we need to do more. It is also estimated that if a bag is 'thrown away' it takes up to 1000 years for it to degrade, and as can be seen from the pictures shown in Midway and in Cornwall this causes many problems not just to wildlife but to us humans as the plastic is digested into shell fish and molests and they get into the food change bringing diseases to humans.

A number of major retailers are no longer giving out free plastic bags to their customers, notably M&S and IKEA, but we all need to make the effort if the problem is not going to increase. Also a number of supermarkets including, ASDA, TESCO and Sainsbury's have boxes in their stores to re-cycle the plastic bags once they are old and unusable anymore.

The bags are unsightly when they 'float around' but more importantly they have the potential to be harmful to humans.

So the plea from TIDY Northern Ireland is 'if you need to use a bag then use it carefully and many many times, or ideally use a Bag for Life'.

Following an Easter holiday period in which Northern Ireland consumers have spent £8 million on chocolate eggs, TIDY Northern Ireland has called on everyone to dispose of their Easter egg packaging in a proper manner.

Every year huge amounts of waste are discarded when Easter Egg packaging is cast aside, and with confectionery litter one of the fastest growing forms of litter on the streets of Northern Ireland, TIDY Northern Ireland spokesman Nigel Frazer is hoping children and adults alike will dispose of the packaging responsibly.

"We are having increasing problems with the amount of litter related to sweets and confectionery, and at Easter it is especially important that people are aware of the consequences of littering," he said. "With millions of Easter Eggs being eaten every year, a small fraction of that additional potential litter can make a huge difference to the litter levels on our streets. We would like people to be extra vigilant at this time of year, and ensure they dispose of the packaging in the correct manner."

Despite calls for manufacturers to reduce the amount of packaging, the 2008 season appears to have brought little or no reduction in the amount of plastic, card and foil being used. Many chocolate eggs account for only 10% of the volume of their wrapping.

Throughout the United Kingdom 80 million Easter Eggs will have been purchased over the past few days, generating 3,000 tonnes of waste.

Eco-Schools in NI has signed up to be a Northern Ireland Delivery Partner in the BBC Breathing Places Schools initiative.

The BBC is famous for its wildlife broadcasting and over the next two years, they want to get 10,000 schools closer to nature by providing help with making school grounds into special places for wildlife with the BBC Breathing Places Schools campaign.

Eco-Schools in Northern Ireland is working with Breathing Places Schools to make sure that it does the most it can to help schools with their eco work. If your school hasn't already done so, the Breathing Places campaign will provide you with a great opportunity to get started on the Eco-Schools Biodiversity topic. Participation can also be linked to the School Grounds and Healthy Living topics.

BBC Breathing Places Schools will:

• Bring together a partnership of the organisations that can help you
• Provide 'one-stop' help on the BBC website
• Encourage pupils to become involved - watch and listen out for Breathing Places on BBC TV and Radio
• Provide new ideas and new initiatives every term for two years.

How do we get involved?

Go to the BBC Breathing Places website and register as a Breathing Places School. This will give you access to the full website, the campaign documents and a free activity pack to get you started.

You can register at any time, even if you miss the first "Do One Thing" activity.

What happens next?

You will be offered six "Do One Thing" or ('DOTs!) activities over the next two years. The first two are Sowing Seeds (available now), and Minibeasts (for summer 2008). The other DOTs will go online each term until the end of 2009. Future DOT ideas include:

Winter 2008 - Feeding wildlife
Spring 2009 - Homes for wildlife
Summer 2009 - Wet places
Winter 2009 - Trees

Kids are more concerned about the environment than their elders, and are telling their parents to change their attitudes when it comes to halting environmental decline.

New research shows 95% of children aged between 4 and 15 were 'concerned' by global warming, and three quarters of the respondents believed they were more fluent on the subject than their parents.

TIDY Northern Ireland runs the Eco-Schools programme in the province, and with almost 400 schools signed up for the scheme, its growing popularity is evidence of the emphasis school children are placing on the world in which we live.

The eco-conscious youngsters, dubbed 'Greenagers', now want to put more pressure on older generations to take a lead in environmental decision-making.

Some 70% of those polled believed climate change is something that will affect them in their lifetime. Another 85% thought people should be more concerned about the issue and 96% believed it is important to encourage other people to be more environmentally friendly. The survey further showed that more than half (59%) of children were aware of the concept of a 'carbon footprint' and were keen to alter their home life in order to reduce it.

Better recycling, switching off lights in empty rooms, avoiding car travel and reducing the use of household appliances all polled highly.

Despite the awareness of home environmental initiatives, the respondents felt that they learned more about the environment from school teachers rather than their parents.

The Eco-Schools objectives are:

• To raise awareness of the importance of monitoring energy consumption
• To make pupils aware of the link between energy use and financial cost
• To establish partnerships with energy providers, helping to put in place effective energy-saving measures
• To show how simple low or no cost measures to conserve energy can be effective
• To consider using alternative sources of energy

The most important step schools can take is to conduct an energy audit, setting targets for reducing unnecessary energy use and regularly monitoring consumption.

To find out more about Eco-Schools, visit www.eco-schools.org

Recent applications for an Eco-Schools grant were of a 'very high standard' according to the judging panel, which assessed almost 50 applications from across the UK, including some from Northern Ireland.

The panel met to discuss the 48 submissions applying for the second round of funding for the Curry's 'Switched On Communities' grant scheme.

"The standard of entries was very high this time round" said Joan Peden, TIDY Northern Ireland's Eco-Schools Admin Officer. "There were some very innovative and creative ways put forward by schools to identify technology solutions to environmental issues."

The grants must be used to pursue positive change and development within the school for new or existing projects which contribute to the Eco-Schools themes of Energy or Water.

Grants obtained through this programme can also be used to obtain:

• Energy saving white goods (i.e. those displaying the Energy Saving Logo) such as fridges, freezers, washing machines, dishwashers and energy efficient light bulbs.

• Energy saving equipment such as energy efficient lamps, new heating controls, thermostatic radiator valves, insulation and draught stripping, "switch it off" stickers and posters.

There is still £4,000 left in the grant for Eco-Schools in Northern Ireland in Round Three of the scheme. The deadline for this round is 1 April 2008.

Would you like a job where you can lead the way to a brighter, cleaner, tidier tomorrow?

A vacancy has arisen for the Chief Executive post with TIDY Northern Ireland. Further details are included in the attached files.

Despite icy mornings and snow falls still fresh in the memory, the meeting of the 2008 Blue Flag jury means summer must be getting closer. The England and Northern Ireland Blue Flag jury convened recently to judge the 8 beaches from Northern Ireland and 90 from mainland Britain set to go forward for the International Blue Flag for Beaches award.

The panel met earlier this month to discuss the 98 entries for this years' award, each of whom are hoping to receive the international jury's final approval. The Jury was made up of representatives from RNLI, RoSPA, The Environment Agency, South West Water, Lifesavers and our own CEO Ian Cole, along with representatives from Encams, the FEE (Foundation for Environmental Education) full member. This will be the last time that TIDY Northern Ireland attends this jury as it becomes a member of FEE in its own right from June of this year and therefore will be convening its own jury this time next year.

The 98 beaches covered the whole of England apart from the North West along with the eight beaches put forward for this prestigious award from Northern Ireland, including a new entry from Murlough Bay in County Down. The full list will be published once the International Jury has made its recommendations. The jury were very strict, but all eight of our local beaches of will be put forward to the International panel as long as they meet the additional requirements put forward by the England and Northern Ireland Jury.

"The meeting was held in Birmingham at RoSPA's offices near the University and I have to admit that it did feel strange to be discussing beach awards in the most central city in England" said Ian Cole CEO of TIDY Northern Ireland. "Northern Ireland beaches were very well received and we are hopeful that the International Jury will accept our eight nominations."

The panel's final judgement will be made available in April, with the awarding of the Blue Flags for 2008 being made at a special ceremony on the 5^th June.

Throughout Northern Ireland celebrations are taking place to mark the start of the Chinese New Year, but thanks to the continuing problem of people dropping food on our streets, we could be entering the 'Year of the Rat' in more ways than one.

The rat population has boomed to over 60 million in the UK due to the huge amounts of litter being discarded on our streets, meaning there are now almost as many rats as people.

According to the British Pest Control Association, dropped takeaway food and fruit peelings are making super-rats bigger and more energetic with a longer life span. They have adapted to feeding off rubbish, getting more energy from that than their original food source, wheat.

A recent TIDY Northern Ireland survey revealed that items of food such as apple cores, which are providing nutrition for the rodents, are regarded as almost an acceptable form of litter. It is an attitude that the province's anti-litter charity would like to see change.

"It seems that many people think it is OK to drop food because they believe it is biodegradable, but it is exactly this attitude that is helping the rat population expand at an alarming rate," said Nigel Frazer from TIDY Northern Ireland. "In reality, given the right circumstances, it can take up to two years for food items such as banana skins and orange peel to degrade, giving the rat population ample opportunity to thrive on the discarded scraps."

People born under the 'Year of the Rat' are said to be haters of waste and idleness, but ironically it is because of idleness that people drop food on the ground. "It really doesn't require a great deal of effort to walk to a bin or hold onto the item until you can dispose of it responsibly," Nigel Frazer continued. "If people made the effort to do that, we would see a huge improvement in the littering problem and also a reduction in the amount of rat related complaints received by our local councils."

An Eco-School is saving money and helping the environment by recycling cooking oil.

Children aged 11 to 16 from the Science and Engineering Club at Swavesey Village College are running a scheme to produce bio-fuel for use in their minibus.

The machine producing the environmentally friendly fuel costs around £1,000, and the main ingredient in bio-diesel is vegetable oil. Swavesey Village College is using waste oil from the school canteen, but since healthier meals at lunchtime were introduced there is not enough - so it is getting an extra supply from the local pub instead.

The school's assistant principal, Steve Howard, said: "It allows the pupils to see there's technology available which will help the environment and which will allow them to be sustainable in what they're doing."

For the pupils at Swaveley the whole process is being brought into the curriculum. Maths and science lessons will be used to analyse the effects of using the bio-diesel, including the amount of carbon emissions and money that is saved.

The Eco-Schools programme, which had transport as one of its nine topics, suggests ways in which pupils, staff and local government can work together to raise awareness of transport issues and come up with practical solutions that will make a difference to pupils' everyday lives.

St Malachy's Primary School student Katie O'Hare has won first prize in the Illegal Dumping Campaign Schools Poster Competition, run by Translink in partnership with TIDY Northern Ireland and Belfast City Council.

Two runners up posters were also chosen which were created by Aimee Stewart of Donegall Road P.S., and Emma McGuigan of St Malachys P.S.

The campaign was developed in response to the on-going issue of illegal dumping on Translink's property, and in particular along the rail infrastructure. This amongst other issues, are being tackled through a partnership approach between Translink and TIDY Northern Ireland. The partnership addresses the nature, scale and source of problems affecting Translink, such as litter, fly posting, graffiti, fly tipping and vandalism.

Every year Translink spends thousands of pounds clearing away items such as furniture, electrical goods, and general rubbish from the rail track sides. Dealing with this issue causes delays to services and disruption to passengers. More importantly it can have massive safety implications due to trespass on to the tracks, risks to employees, and the potential for collisions between trains and the dumped items.

As part of this campaign Translink, TIDY Northern Ireland and Belfast City Council developed the poster competition with the aim of encouraging young citizens to think and learn about the impact this activity may have on safety and wildlife within our communities.

To help convey these messages, Belfast City Council's Community Awareness Team and the Translink and TIDY Northern Ireland National Officer visited the schools to deliver a presentation. This covered the topics of littering, illegal dumping and how they impact on our community, and transport by rail. The participating schools also received a free curriculum linked anti-litter education pack and an anti-litter computer game from the Community Awareness Team, for continuing education on these topics.

All of the entries are currently on display at Belfast Central Station, and the winning entry has been reproduced as a station poster for use in Translink's on-going illegal dumping campaign.

Many of the province's schools are set to be rewarded for their environmental efforts following the news that Eco-Schools and Currys have joined forces to award grants of up to £4,000 for schools who embrace projects on ecological issues.

The windfall, which will be presented in the form of a cash donation towards the costs of the proposed project or energy efficient goods from the electrical retailer, will reward both primary and secondary schools for projects which educate on the importance of dealing efficiently with energy or water.

Eligible schools must have already achieved a Bronze or Silver Eco-Schools award, making 162 schools throughout Northern Ireland eligible for the grants.

In Northern Ireland Eco-Schools is run by TIDY Northern Ireland, and their Chief Executive Ian Cole urged schools to take advantage of this opportunity.

"Eco-Schools has become a hugely popular programme across the province, and this grant has provided another opportunity for schools and their pupils to do something positive for the environment," he said. "The fact that we have 370 schools registered on the programme shows that the environment is an issue which is of huge interest and importance to our future generations, and hopefully the lessons they learn through the Eco-Schools programme will stay with them throughout their lives."

Schools wishing to apply for the grant can find further details here or cick on the links below. The deadline for this round of applications is 1^st February 2008.

TIDY Northern Ireland have backed calls for a chewing gum tax to clean up our streets, after the proposal was recently debated in the House of Commons.

Labour MP Graham Allen urged radical new solutions to be implemented in a bid to eradicate a problem that has become commonplace on the pavements and streets of the province.

Along with cigarette butts, chewing gum has topped the litter charts in Northern Ireland for many years. Recent TIDY Northern Ireland surveys show there is no indication of a reduction in the figures, with the gum continuing to stick to shoes, wheelchairs and prams in huge numbers.

'We need radical new solutions - like biodegradable gum - to tackle the problem," said Mr Allen, the Nottingham based Member of Parliament. "If the industry does not face up to the consequences of its product then it - as the polluter - should pay."

TIDY Northern Ireland Chief Executive Ian Cole agrees with the sentiments of the MP. "We in Northern Ireland suffer exactly the same problems as the rest of the UK, and there needs to be some dramatic changes," he said. "Chewing gum is unlike most other forms of litter in that it is very costly and time consuming to remove. Many councils are currently spending huge amounts of rate payer's money on the removal of gum, but it is time for the manufacturers to take responsibility for the problems their product causes. The public must also be more aware of the problems associated with careless disposal of chewing gum, and we would ask them to do their bit to combat the problem by finding a bin rather than dropping it on the street."

'I must put my litter in a bin.' That is the New Year's resolution TIDY Northern Ireland is encouraging everyone to make as 2008 gets underway.

A survey conducted by the anti-litter organisation in 2007 revealed that less then half of the province's population believed we lived in a clean country, and if 2008 is bring a change in Northern Ireland's image, then it is its residents who will have to change their ways.

"Pedestrians and motorists are the main source of the litter on our streets, so it is clear that people need to change their attitude to littering if we are to improve the situation," said TIDY Northern Ireland CEO Ian Cole. "For those people who contribute to the unsightly mess in the province, I would encourage them to turn over a new leaf in 2008 and put that litter into a bin, or if there is no bin nearby hold onto it until they can dispose of it in the correct manner."

Last year cigarette litter soared to a new high following the introduction of the public smoking ban, and confectionery related litter also rose, joining chewing gum as the most prevalent forms of litter on our streets.

Businesses must provide more butt bins and ashtrays outside public premises to combat the alarming rise in cigarette litter.

That is the message coming from anti-litter charity TIDY Northern Ireland after the findings of a recent survey showed the amount of smoking related litter on our streets has continued to rise dramatically in the months following the introduction of the public smoking ban.

A survey conducted in the month following the April 30^th ban showed smoking related litter outside pubs, restaurants and public buildings had risen by 17%, but six months later that figure has almost doubled to 33%.

A recent TIDY Northern Ireland poll also revealed that almost one in three people lay the blame for the increase not on the smokers responsible for dropping the cigarette litter, but on the businesses who fail to provide adequate facilities for their disposal.

"Cigarette butts are one of the most harmful forms of litter, and if we don't take steps to reduce the amounts on our town and city streets then it will continue to rise - in fact, in many areas it is already at unacceptable levels," said TIDY Northern Ireland CEO Ian Cole. "There are too many premises with insufficient butt bins or ashtrays outside, leaving smokers with little option but to discard their butts on the street. While the smoker obviously has a responsibility not to litter, he has to get some help in the form of bins or ashtrays if we are to witness an improvement in the cigarette related litter levels. At the moment the problem is getter worse, not better."

Northern Ireland's town and city centres are the worst affected areas with 79% tarnished by littered cigarette butts, but worryingly two thirds of children's play parks and recreational areas are also affected.

A recent attitudinal survey conducted within the province revealed the public classed cigarette litter as one of three worst forms of litter on our street, with each butt containing 4,000 harmful chemicals and taking up to two years to degrade.

Globally, cigarettes are the most littered item in the world, with 4.5 trillion butts discarded worldwide every year.

Translink and TIDY Northern Ireland have joined forces to tackle the on-going problem of illegal dumping across the province.

Dealing with this form of crime costs Translink on average £250,000 per year, but illegal dumping doesn't just cost Translink, it also endangers rail users if dumped items become dislodged and fall onto the rail tracks. Hazardous items can also have a massive impact on the local environment and wildlife. The negative effect on communities could have a significant affect on house prices or investment in an area.

As the information leaflet and poster for this campaign illustrate there are much easier options for disposing of unwanted waste. Local Councils will remove bulky waste from rate payers homes. Each council's telephone number has been listed on the information leaflet. Alternatively many charitable organisations across NI will collect and accept unwanted sellable items such as furniture and white goods. The contact details of which can also be found in the leaflet.

Edel Fingleton National Officer for TIDY NI said that there has been an excellent response from all the local councils across Northern Ireland as they are just as keen to see this problem addressed.

"We are working closely with the councils on this campaign to make sure the message is delivered effectively, especially in hotspot areas for illegal dumping which are Antrim, Belfast, Craigavon, Carrickfergus, and Lisburn," she revealed. "Supporting letters and a leaflet have been sent to homeowners in each of these areas to highlight the issue further and to provide further information on disposal options in each of the council areas".

Translink urges anyone who may have witnessed an incidence of illegal dumping to use the contact telephone numbers in the leaflet to report it to their local authority, and help to keep our communities cleaner, safer and greener.

TIDY Northern Ireland has urged supermarkets to make a bigger effort to reduce the amount of packaging, following reports that the Government is in danger of missing recycling targets because as much as 40% of packaging cannot be recycled.

A recent survey carried out by the Local Government Association showed markets and local retailers were the best of the retail outlets with a recyclable packaging rate of 79%. The best supermarket was Asda with a rate of 70%, while Marks & Spencers and Lidl came bottom of the list with only 60% of packaging suitable for recycling.

A recent TIDY Northern Ireland cleanliness survey also revealed that packaging waste was the fourth most common form of litter on the province's streets behind cigarette litter, chewing gum and confectionery litter. The survey results show plastic packaging was present on one third of the province's roads and streets, while metal packaging was found on 15% of areas surveyed.

The Chief Executive of TIDY Northern Ireland has called for the supermarkets to take the lead in combating the problem. "The large supermarkets have to focus their energy on reducing the amount of packaging on their shelves," said Ian Cole. "Far too much packaging is going straight to our already over-used landfill sites because it cannot be recycled, while a considerable amount is also finding its way onto the streets and adding to the litter problem. If the big chain stores were more responsible about the vast quantities they are producing, it would have great benefits for both the recycling and litter problems."

One of Northern Ireland's most prevalent forms of litter could soon be a thing of the past, following the development of a non-stick paving treatment. Discarded chewing gum comes out as one of the most common forms of litter in every TIDY Northern Ireland survey, and local councils spend tens of thousands of pounds of rate payers money every year trying to combat the problem, but technology could finally provide a solution.

"It would be a huge step forward for councils if they could remove chewing gum from the streets in the same manner as other litter," said TIDY Northern Ireland CEO Ian Cole. "Every single town or city street in Northern Ireland is afflicted by the problem, and this new treatment process could be a real breakthrough. The main problem with gum is that once it lands on the pavement it sticks and doesn't budge, but this product removes that element making it easier and cheaper to clean."

The treatment works by forming a semi-permeable membrane as it sinks into the paving stones, preventing any gum, grease or stains from sticking to the surface. Instead of discolouring the pavements, staining and airborne carbon is washed away during rainfall, effectively providing a self-cleaning surface.

The system has already been trialled in England by Westminster Council, and TIDY Northern Ireland would encourage councils in Northern Ireland to be aware of the product and adopt similar initiatives.

Click here to view how the process works

Cairnshill Primary School became the 20^th school in the province to receive the highest Eco-Schools accolade when they were presented with their Permanent Green Flag from Environment Minister Arlene Foster.

The Minister praised the school's Eco-Committee on taking a practical and action-oriented commitment to a better environment, adding:

"Helping to make that link between what students learn in their daily lessons and the environment, goes a long way in cultivating that life-long pro-environment attitude - where care and concern for the environment comes from the heart.

"Today's young people have a huge responsibility for the environment, as we all do. There is no doubt that there is an unprecedented level of awareness of environmental issues, and this can only be good. I commend the hard work and foresight of all who have worked hard to win this prestigious award at Cairnshill and the other award winning schools in Northern Ireland."

The assessment panel were also impressed with the standards shown by the Belfast Primary School, which met the top-level criteria for each of the seven elements of the Eco-Schools process.

"Even though vandalism is an issue, the school are making the most of and managing their environment effectively," said the assessors. "They are a well established Eco-School and their success is due to excellent continual monitoring and improvement of activities and resources in the school as well as inclusion of all staff and

children."

Cairnshill Primary's success helps confirm Northern Ireland's position as the most successful Eco-Schools region in the United Kingdom, and Ian Cole, Chief Executive of TIDY Northern Ireland who run the Eco-Schools programme in Northern Ireland, has been delighted with the interest shown in the programme.

"Having twenty schools in the province reaching Permanent Green Flag status is quite an achievement," he said. "It is very encouraging that Northern Ireland has the highest ratio of Permanent Green Flags per school registered in the UK. It shows that our school children are really taking an active interest in the environment."

The Eco-Schools program provides a simple framework to enable schools to analyse its operations and become more sustainable, reducing the environmental impact of the whole school on the community. Over a quarter of the province's schools are enrolled in the Eco-Schools programme, with almost half of those already receiving awards in recognition of their environmental efforts.

TIDY Northern Ireland is delighted to announce that we have joined forces with three new Delivery Partners for our Eco-Schools programme.

Ballydevitt Farm, Northern Ireland Water and the Speedwell Trust will join our existing delivery partners in rolling out the programme to schools across the province.

Ballydevitt Farm in Aghadowey near Coleraine is a dairy and beef farm with a nature trail. The farm and nature trail provide an excellent educational resource for children and adults. The 'Living Classroom', based on the Northern Ireland curriculum, incorporates nature trails, local heritage, conservation adventures and an environmental trail. There are toy tractors and tearaways for the under 5's; Walk, Talk and Ted for the Active Agers; Mini/Maxi Beasts for 9-10 years and the nearby picturesque Agivey River is the perfect canvas for artist groups.

Thomharbison@hotmail.com

028 7086 8378 mob.078411013898

Northern Ireland Water is the sole provider of water and sewage services in Northern Ireland, with over 780,000 domestic, agricultural, commercial and business customers. Their educational resources include a work pack to help teachers, particularly of Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 pupils introduce the theme of water across the curriculum.

The Water Bus also visits schools. This exhibition aims to make children aware of a range of water issues such as the water cycle, water for health, water sources, water and wastewater treatment and water efficiency.

www.niwater.com

education@niwater.com

028 90 244711

Speedwell Trust is a voluntary project based in Parkanaur Forest near Dungannon.

The project was created in 1991 as a cross-community venture to bring Catholic and Protestant primary school children together through curriculum based programmes.

At Speedwell children work in mixed groups, participating in both environmental and community relations programmes. It encourages children and adults to value and respect each other and the world we share.

Eco-Schools in Northern Ireland works closely with a number of education and environmental organisations to help deliver the programme. All five Education and Library Boards are involved, as are the majority of the 26 local councils

ww.speedwell-trust.com

info@speedwell-trust.com

028 8776 7392

If your school has already gained its Eco-Schools Bronze or Silver Award, you could be eligible for a grant towards gaining Green Flag status.

Thanks to the continuing support of Currys, schools in Northern Ireland, England, Scotland and Wales now have the opportunity to apply for funding as part of the 'Switched on Communities' programme, giving them the opportunity to apply for funding to help them progress towards Green Flag status.

Please note that schools which have already achieved Green Flag Status will not be eligible to apply for funding during the 2007/08 academic year.

What can we get if our application is successful?

Applications from schools which meet the above criteria will be considered for grants of up to £4,000. The grants must be used to pursue positive change and development within the school for new or existing projects which contribute to the Eco-Schools themes of Energy or Water. Priority will be given to projects that clearly demonstrate an energy-efficiency element or identify technological solutions to environmental improvements.

Grants obtained through this programme can also be used to obtain:

• Energy saving white goods (ie those displaying the Energy Saving Logo) such as fridges, freezers, washing machines, dishwashers and energy efficient light bulbs.

• Energy saving equipment such as energy efficient lamps, new heating controls, thermostatic radiator valves, insulation and draught stripping, "switch it off" stickers and posters.


What do we have to do to apply?

To take advantage of this exciting opportunity, your school needs to have:

• Achieved a Bronze or Silver Award with the Eco-Schools programme
• Completed your Environmental Review
• Identified a project relating to the Eco-Schools themes of Energy or Water
• Completed an Action Plan which includes the project for which funds are being requested
• Chosen Energy Saving white goods (if requested) from the Currys website.
• Submitted a Grant Application Form

We strongly recommend that schools read the accompanying Guidance Notes before completing their Application Form.

Applications will be reviewed by our panel at three meetings during the 07/08 school year. In order to be considered for a grant award, schools must ensure that their applications reach the Eco-Schools Team by the following closing dates:

Round One: 1st November
Round Two: 1st February
Round Three: 1st April

Tourism on the North Down coast is set for a boost following news that they could soon be reaping the benefits of an increase in the number of Blue Flag beaches.

A Blue Flag award is widely recognised as an important factor in the tourist potential of any beach, but the water quality off Northern Ireland's coastline has often failed to meet the required standards in some areas. The completion of the new wastewater treatment works at Donaghadee and three new pumping stations at Donaghadee, Millisle and Briggs Rock are set to improve the waters from Bangor to Millisle by putting an end to the discharge of untreated wastewater directly into the sea.

TIDY Northern Ireland runs the Blue Flag programme in the province, and its Chief Executive Ian Cole was looking forward to the prospect of Northern Ireland adding to their current eight flag holders. "A lot of our beaches are superbly well maintained with excellent facilities, but they have been prevented from getting Blue Flag status because of the quality of the water," said the CEO. "The beaches in North Down and Ards now have a real opportunity to earn themselves a Blue Flag by providing clean bathing waters for all beach goers, and as a result increase their tourism revenue."

In addition to bathing water that meets guideline standards, a Blue Flag beach must satisfy another 28 different criteria including litter-free sands, safe access to the beach for everyone, good, well-maintained facilities and life saving equipment. "Although the water quality is set to get cleaner there are still no guarantees that these beaches will achieve Blue Flag status," said Ian Cole. "That's why it is vital the public continue to take their rubbish home instead of dropping it on the beach, and look after the facilities that are provided for them."

Councillor Angus Carson, Chair of Ards Borough Council's Development Committee, said: "The Council looks forward to the benefits anticipated from the improved waste water treatment processes located in North Down/Ards. For the past four years issues such as the absence of Blue Flag status and overall water quality have meant that we have had to work ever harder at promoting the region as a tourism destination. We hope that the modern water treatment process will bring direct water quality improvements and indirect benefits to the wider economy in terms of tourism promotion and development".

Serving a population equivalent of 110,000 in the North Down and Ards area, the wastewater treatment plant at Donaghadee is capable of treating 900 litres of crude sewage every second, and is set to rival some of the most advanced wastewater treatment works in Europe. The works is part of Northern Ireland Water's £122 million Project Omega being delivered by Glen Water (a joint venture between Thames Water and Laing O'Rourke) which has brought together a number of international companies to deliver the scheme and ensure compliance with the EU Urban Wastewater Treatment and Bathing Waters Directives. Project Omega includes the upgrading of a number of existing wastewater treatment facilities at Ballyrickard, Ballynacor, Bullays Hill, Seagoe, Armagh and Richhill.

TIDY Northern Ireland wishes to appoint a Part Time (18.75hr week)

Coastal Officer

(Salary £19,570 pro rata).

TIDY Northern Ireland seeks to appoint a skilled and enthusiastic person to assist in the deliver and development of new and existing management programmes and awards for the coastline of Northern Ireland.

The post will be home working with access to a Belfast office

Details and application forms for the post are available below.

Closing date for applications - midday Friday 21^st September

Interviews on Monday 8^th October

TIDY Northern Ireland is reflecting on a successful year of growth and development following the publication of their 2006/2007 Annual Report.

"It has been a busy year for TIDY Northern Ireland and I am delighted to report that it has also been a successful year, with many of our programmes and campaigns achieving results beyond even our expectations," said Chief Executive Ian Cole.

"We ran campaigns during the year focusing on a range of littering issues, and the Borough Cleanliness Survey, undertaken in conjunction with local authorities, continues to monitor the litter situation across Northern Ireland. The Eco-Schools programme has had a marvellous response from schools right across the province, and the 'TIDY Business' programme is another that has developed well over the past 12 months, while our partnership with Translink continues to be a success."

Chairman Leslie Murray is also delighted with the impact made by the anti-litter charity. "The past year has been a successful twelve months of growth and development for TIDY Northern Ireland, and I am confident that the work being carried out by the organisation will continue to have a positive impact on the province's litter problems," he said.

"This Annual Report makes encouraging reading and many of our campaigns have made a real difference to the environmental quality of Northern Ireland. There is however still much to be done. Based on our growing strength we are now planning to 'Step up a Notch' and develop TIDY into a force for cleanliness in communities across Northern Ireland."

On the spot litter fines are set to rise in the Republic of Ireland from €125 to €150. The change was announced by the Minister for the Environment John Gormley and is due to come into place from September this year. This is higher than the fine north of the border, and the Irish government insists it reflects the seriousness of the offence.

Litter bugs in Northern Ireland are currently fined £50 when caught. However, a survey carried out by TIDY Northern Ireland this year revealed that only 43% of those surveyed knew the correct amount for the fine. The interviewee's estimate of the scale of the fine ranged from £10 up to £1000, whilst only 41% knew that designated council officers issue the fines.

The Minister for the Environment also referred to the pollution monitoring system report for 2006 issued in the Republic, and highlighted that 56% of litter was cigarette related, whilst the second largest category was food related with chewing gum the main offender.

The Irish government's proactive stance on the chewing gum litter issue has seen them threaten to impose a levy on gum, which will be used to combat the litter problem if the situation does not improve over the next 18 months. There currently exists a voluntary agreement in the Republic between the Department of the Environment and Wrigley's chewing gum manufacturers that the later contributes to the clean up costs of chewing gum litter.

The findings of this report are similar to those from the Borough Cleanliness Survey issued by TIDY Northern Ireland recently, which also recorded cigarette and chewing gum related litter to be the two most prevalent litter types. The announcement by the Minister highlights that the littering issues on both sides of the border are depressingly similar.

People need to start taking more responsibility for their littering behavior, if not for the protection of our shared environment, then at least to save themselves a lot of money in litter fines.

Northern Ireland is a dirty country. That is the verdict of its residents, after the province's largest ever litter survey revealed that people believe they live in unclean surroundings.

The TIDY Northern Ireland poll, which sought the views of almost 1,700 people from across Northern Ireland, has revealed that while 92% believe it is important to live in a clean environment, only half that number reckons the province is meeting the necessary standards of cleanliness.

Despite the TIDY Northern Ireland Borough Cleanliness Survey showing the streets getting cleaner over the past 12 months, it is clear from the latest findings that the public still perceive the litter issue to be a real problem.

Fast food outlets get most of the blame when it comes to sources of litter, but with 30% of the population believing it is acceptable to drop litter in certain situations, TIDY Northern Ireland Chief Executive Ian Cole says it is the attitude of the public that needs to change if the province is to clean up its image.

"It is disappointing that almost a third of the people surveyed seem to think that in some circumstances its fine to drop litter," said the CEO. "Almost everyone is quick to acknowledge that litter is a problem, and the public are telling us they are not happy with the state of our streets, but it seems a lot of those same people are not taking responsibility for their own actions. The results quite clearly show that many people are happy to discard items in the hope that someone else will pick it up. That is not only impacting on the quality of our environment, but is also hiking up our rates bills as councils and street cleaners strive to keep on top of the problem. It is time that people start viewing litter as their own responsibility."

Eighteen percent of people believe it is reasonable to drop apple cores on the ground even though they can take up to two years to biodegrade, and 11% drop cigarette butts without a second thought despite the fact cigarette ends are regarded as the third worst kind of litter behind dog excrement and chewing gum.

12% of people have little hesitation in dropping litter if they believe it is biodegradable, while 11% drop it in the hope a road sweeper will pick it up. 30% of people believe there are areas in which it is acceptable to litter, with concerts and sporting venues topping the list.

OTHER MAIN FINDINGS FROM THE SURVEY:

• 52% believed their local council has a litter problem
• Fast food outlets were seen as the main culprits for the littering problem (37%). Frequency of cleansing (20%) and pedestrians (14%) were second and third on the list.
• 50% regarded dog excrement as the worst type of litter. 17% said Chewing Gum, and 7% said cigarette butts.
• The main reason people do not drop litter is the impact on their rates bills through the cost of cleaning (28%). 20% object because it is unhygienic, while 18% deem it unsightly. Only 13% are prevented from littering because it is a criminal offence.
• Over 60% believe more bins on the street would reduce the problem, and the majority want to see bins emptied more often. Almost half of those questioned admitted stricter enforcement of fines would reduce the problem.
• 43% could correctly identify the littering fine as being £50, while 41% knew council officers could issues the fixed penalty notices.

Eco-Schools in Northern Ireland, run by TIDY Northern Ireland, has awarded the province's 20^th Permanent Green Flag to Cairnshill Primary School. The prestigious Green Flag is awarded to schools who meet the top level criteria for each of the seven elements of the Eco-Schools process, and after years of effort and hard work, Carnshill Primary has been rewarded with permanent flag status.

The Belfast school was praised by Eco-Schools assessors for effectively managing their local environment. "Cairnshill is a well established Eco-School," said the assesors. "Their success is due to excellent continual monitoring and improvement of activities and resources in the school, as well as inclusion of all staff and children."

The school was also congratulated by TIDY Northern Ireland's Joan Peden. "Cairnshill Primary School is a wonderful example of what a school can achieve," she said. "They have involved the whole school and wider community in their Eco-Schools activities and sustainable development is explored through curriculum work in many year groups. The Permanent Green Flag is a superb achievement and everyone involved with the school should be very proud!"

Eco-Schools is an international programme promoting environmental awareness in schools. It involves the whole school - pupils, teachers, non-teaching staff and governors - as well as members of the local community, parents, the local council, the media and local businesses.

The Permanent Green Flag is given to schools who are actively involved in continuously improving their environmental performance.

For more information and to register your school with Eco-Schools, visit www.eco-schools.org.uk

You wouldn't drop litter on your own doorstep, so don't drop it in the street. That is the message from TIDY Northern Ireland after its survey out today (Tuesday 3^rd July) reported that cleanliness levels are much better in residential areas than anywhere else.

The Borough Cleanliness Survey results for 2006 revealed a rise in the number of streets meeting government guidelines. But it also prompted concerns that people are only looking after the patch immediately outside their home - anywhere else is viewed as a free-for-all dumping ground.

Environment minister Arelene Foster joined TIDY Northern Ireland in calling for people to think before dropping litter. "The scenic quality of Northern Ireland's environment is world-renowned and is something we should all take pride in," she said. "While it is very encouraging to note this ongoing improvement, everyone can contribute to the cleanliness of their surroundings with just a little more thought and effort before they dispose of litter."

That is a message backed up by TIDY Northern Ireland's Nigel Frazer. "People take pride in the area in which they live, and it is this attitude that TIDY Northern Ireland would like to see applied to all other areas," he said.

"Sadly, it appears that for many people once they leave their doorstep they adopt a different mindset regarding dropping litter. If people took the same pride in the environment as a whole as they do in the area just outside their own front door, then litter levels would fall dramatically. I would encourage people to think before they dispose of their litter, and ask themselves, 'If I was outside my own house would I drop this"

Over the past year council surveyors have scrutinised almost 1,500 public sites in search of litter and dirt on the pavements, and the findings show clear signs of improvement. In 2006 13% of Northern Ireland's streets were not up to scratch, a figure which compares favourably with a failure rate of 17% in 2005.

Jim Ferguson, Street Cleansing Manager with Belfast City Council said: "These latest findings are very encouraging and show that our anti-litter messages are making a difference and people are starting to take responsibility for keeping their communities litter-free. A recent study for Belfast also shows there has been an improvement in people's littering behaviour since the city council launched its targeted 'Don't Drop It, Stop It' campaign three years ago. While there is always room for improvement this shows we are making good progress in our efforts to create a cleaner, tidier city for all."

Northern Ireland's cleanest regions were areas of low-density housing, where resident's pride in their community meant less litter on the streets and a 93% pass rate. Conversely, Retail Developments the outskirts of towns and cities returned the worst figures. Almost a quarter of commercial areas located outside town centres need to address their litter problem.

Not surprisingly cigarette litter and chewing gum topped the litter tables, with confectionery related litter running them a close third. When it comes to the sources of litter, fast food outlets fall a long way behind pedestrians and motorists, with the big two accounting for 83% of all litter.

While the general trend is a positive one, Nigel Frazer admits he would like to see more litter free areas.

"It is encouraging to see an improvement in the cleanliness of our streets, but there is still a lot of work to be done," said the TIDY Northern Ireland spokesman. "While 87% of the transects surveyed were of an acceptable standard, it still means that almost one in eight streets are failing, and we would like to see an improvement in that figure."

TIDY Northern Ireland has given their backing to Republic of Ireland based organisation 'Irish Business Against Litter', who are calling on the Irish Government to issue penalty points to motorists caught littering from vehicles. A survey commissioned by IBAL revealed litter black spots on the approaches to 50 towns and cities surveyed across Ireland. The report also highlighted the inadequate provision of litter disposal facilities at road lay-bys where many long haul drivers stop to eat. North of the border is no exception to this plight, as many of our roadsides have been defaced with carelessly discarded litter.

TIDY Northern Ireland has campaigned on this issue many times, and our Annual Borough Cleanliness Survey identified that over a quarter of all litter originates from litter discarded from vehicles. The powers available in Northern Ireland to deal with incidences resulting in the reduction of the quality of the local environment are dispersed between several pieces of legislation. This can influence the effectiveness of the legislation when it comes to implementation.

TIDY Northern Ireland would like to see legislation strengthened to cover all local environmental quality issues, and we have long recognised that littering from vehicles should be stipulated in the legislation. Registered owners should either be made liable or should provide details of the person who dropped the litter. If the person identified as dropping litter from the vehicle is under 17 the liability should rest with the driver.

There is a real need to make motorists aware that their littering behaviour is unacceptable and TIDY Northern Ireland are watching proceedings in the South with keen interest.

EIGHT beaches in Northern Ireland have been bestowed the prestigious Blue Flag award for having litter-free sands and clean bathing waters - the same number as last year.

On World Environment Day, two of the country's marinas also received the esteemed accolade for their good facilities and cleanliness.

Ian Cole, Chief Executive of Tidy Northern Ireland, the charity responsible for Blue Flag in Northern Ireland said: "It's great that we can offer beach and sailing enthusiasts such good places to visit.

"It is testament to the growing popularity and credibility of the awards. But also the hard work that those who look after our beaches and marinas put in to maintain such high standards."

Among the beach winners are Portrush East Strands in Antrim (which missed out last year) neighbouring Portrush, Whiterocks and Portrush, West Strand. Plus Benone Strand in Derry and Tyrella in Down.

A Blue Flag beach must satisfy 29 different criteria including litter-free sands, bathing water that meets guideline standard, safe access to the beach for everyone, good, well maintained facilities and life saving equipment.

Marinas have to meet over 20 various standards like fire fighting, first aid and life saving equipment, have rubbish bins, visually clean water free of litter and oil and provide drinking water.

Blue Flag is an international award which runs in 36 countries across the globe. Every single Blue Flag beach and marina whether in Northern Ireland, Portugal or New Zealand has achieved and must maintain the highest standards. Foreign feet treading our sands can expect to experience the same quality as on their home shores.

Added Ian: "These beaches and marinas may have been given their Blue Flag - but they need to continue to work hard to maintain standards. The public can do their bit to help by putting all their rubbish in a bin and looking after the facilities."

An Taisce, the body responsible for Blue Flag in the Republic of Ireland, have also announced their awards for the season. South of the border 80 beaches and 3 marinas were rewarded with Blue Flags, making the total on the island of Ireland 88 beaches and 5 marinas. Two beaches in Co Louth, just a short drive from the Co Down coast, met the required standard, as did two beaches on Sligo's East Coast. Donegal provided Ulster with the largest number of Blue Flags, 11 beaches representing 16% of the entire country's Blue Flag awards.

A full list of winners is available to the public at www.blueflag.org.uk .

Blue Flag winners 2007

Beaches

Re-entry: Portrush East Strand

Out from last year: Downhill

Marinas

Out from last year: Bangor

TIDY Northern Ireland has revealed that the amount of smoking related litter on our streets has increased by 17% following the introduction of the public smoking ban at the end of April.

The latest TIDY Northern Ireland Borough Cleanliness Survey, conducted over the first three months of 2007, revealed that cigarette litter was already present on over 50% of areas surveyed. Since the introduction of the new legislation that figure has risen even higher, confirming tobacco related litter as the most common type of litter in Northern Ireland.

The anti litter charity carried out surveys in locations throughout the province, focusing on areas likely to be affected by the new laws, and Ian Cole, Chief Executive of TIDY Northern Ireland, admits the results are disappointing. "With an increase in the number of people smoking on the street there was always a risk of an increase in the numbers of cigarette butts carelessly discarded, but we were hoping people would have made more of an effort to use bins and ashtrays," he said. "We at TIDY Northern Ireland would ask people to be conscious of littering when they have finished their cigarette, and to dispose of butts in the correct manner. If you dropping a cigarette on the ground it not only harms the environment, but you are running the risk of receiving a £50 littering fine."

"We would also appeal to those responsible for public buildings, such as pubs, clubs, restaurants, offices and shops, to make sure there are adequate facilities outside the building for disposal of cigarettes."

Dropping a cigarette butt can also have a direct effect on ratepayers, with some councils in the province already having to provide extra services to tackle the increase in litter. There are also other costs associated with cigarette litter. Every year young children are admitted to hospital having eaten cigarette butts, there can be huge costs associated with fires started by lit cigarettes, and there is lost revenue from tourism when we get a reputation as a 'dirty' country.

It is estimated that 4.5 trillion cigarette butts enter the environment every year, and although small in size, they are regarded as one of the most harmful forms of litter. They are made of plastic fibres that can take over 2 years to degrade, and contain up to 4,000 chemicals that are harmful to the environment.

Waste is an issue that has a direct influence on our environment, and efficient management of this waste is a vital tool in improving Local Environmental Quality.

Last week it was the turn of the younger section of the community to have their say on the issue, as children from primary and post-primary schools in every council area competed against each other to speak on the topic of "Reduce, reuse and recycle."

Joan Peden, TIDY Northern Ireland's Eco-Schools Admin Officer, travelled to the Guildhall in Derry to judge the final of the Environmental YouthSpeak competition, sponsored by the Environmental Heritage Service.

The competition was aimed at P6 and P7 pupils in the Junior Section and Year 8 and Year 9 pupils in the Senior Section. Pupils were asked to speak for 3 - 5 minutes on a specific environmental theme. This year 'waste and recycling' was the focus of the event, with the junior entrants speaking on the theme "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle - what it means to me" and the senior entrants speaking on the theme "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle - why are they in that order".

The young people represented the three regional waste management partnerships in the province - Arc21, North West Region Waste Management Group and SWAMP (Southern Waste Management Partnership). The Waste Management Partnerships work together to deal with all the problems associated with recycling and waste management.

BBC radio and TV presenter Stephen Nolan presented the awards to the two overall winners - Caroline Leitch from Loanends PS in the junior section and Caitriona Boyle from St Mary's Grammar School, Magherafelt in the senior section.

Five Gold Award winners were among 40 businesses in the North Down area to receive TIDY Business awards at the local council's recent awards ceremony.

North Down Borough Council, the first of five organizations enrolled on the TIDY Northern Ireland scheme, are now entering their third year of the programme, during which time they have seen the number of participating businesses expand rapidly.

"We had a lot of businesses who really took up the challenge, and it was great to see five of them rewarded with the Gold award. This is a testament to the high level of commitment that these businesses have shown to the towns and town centres in which they are located," said Betsy Gray of North Down Council. "The feedback we have had from the participants has been very positive, and they all seem to have benefited from information and publicity provided by the programme. We are now looking to make the 2007 scheme bigger and better than ever."

The award winners received their certificates from Mayor Alan Leslie, who commended their success. "I hope your example will inspire many more local businesses to take up the Tidy Business Challenge over the next year," he said. "There is no doubt that correct handling of waste contributes to clean streets, and attractive streets help to increase trade and therefore I would encourage all local businesses to strive for excellence by applying for an award."

TIDY Northern Ireland CEO Ian Cole was delighted to see the response from the local traders. "North Down Borough Council has put a lot of work into making these awards a success," he acknowledged. "It's great to see such a large representation of local businesses among the award winners, and the diversity of the successful participants shows that everyone can benefit from having a 'tidy' business. I hope that this coming year we will witness existing award winners improve their standards, and we will see new businesses gain recognition for their efforts as they join the programme."

The TIDY Business programme aims to encourage businesses to improve their standard of refuse management and improve the image and cleanliness of their premises. There are three levels of awards attainable; Bronze, Silver and Gold.

The programme is promoted by TIDY Northern Ireland. TIDY Northern Ireland, an anti-litter charity, is the provinces leading authority on litter issues, and provides a unique service to communities, businesses, councils and schools throughout Northern Ireland.

NORTH DOWN TIDY BUSINESS AWARD WINNERS

Bangor Area - Main Street and Abbey Street

Gold:

Northern Bank, Main Street

Silver:

Café Home

Cakeworks

Gordons Chemist

GP Marshall & son

Innovation

JJB Sport

MCCulloughs

Priceless Shoes

Bronze:

JD Sports

Dorothy Perkins,

DV8

Oxfam

Holywood Area

Gold:

Habinteg

Iona

Silver:

Café Kina

NK designs

Bronze:

Jewels

John Minnis

Karma

Marie Curie

RA Glass Associates

Xtravision

Bangor Area - High Street

Gold:

Feherty Travel

Wallhangers

Silver:

Bangor Fish Company

Focus Menswear

Franskinsense

Hobby Dashery

Kelly Cowan

RE/MAX Property Specialists

The Mortgage Shop

Thomas's Family Butchers

Todd Chart Agency

Wolsey's

Bronze:

Decadence

Nail Care

Peppers

Steinway

Tanners

TIDY Northern Ireland has joined the Mourne Heritage Trust in calling for the public to be more aware of the problems caused by litter pollution.

Following complaints from a Warrenpoint resident regarding the high levels of litter at Lough Shannagh last weekend, Matthew Bushby of the Trust asked for the general public in the area to be more responsible.

Ian Cole, Chief Executive of anti litter charity TIDY Northern Ireland, has reiterated that appeal. "Litter remains a big problem throughout Northern Ireland, and this instance at Lough Shannagh is yet another example," he said. "A recent attitudinal survey conducted by TIDY Northern Ireland has shown that over a third of people believe Northern Ireland is not a clean country, and while councils are generally working hard to combat the problem, the most effective method of reducing the amount of litter is to change public attitudes and behavioural patterns. If we can get the message through to people that litter is a real problem in today society, then hopefully unsightly areas such as the recreational land around Lough Shannagh will once again become an attractive place for people to spend time.

TIDY Northern Ireland are constantly campaigning to raise awareness of the anti-litter message, and we would be delighted to aid any organisations looking to organise clean up schemes that will help address the problem within their own local community."

TIDY Northern Ireland, an anti-litter charity, is the provinces leading authority on litter issues, and provides a unique service to communities, businesses, councils and schools throughout Northern Ireland.

The staff and Trustees are sad to report the recent death of fellow TIDY NI Trustee George Dawson MLA. George had been a Trustee of TIDY for over two years and we extend our deepest sympathies to his wife and family at their loss. He was a truly lovely man and will be sorely missed by everyone.