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Get Involved! – Future Proofing Project

“Get Involved” is a sustainable communities initiative whereby local communities hook up with local media. It offers local communities all over Ireland an opportunity to work together to improve their own lives, create local jobs, and protect the environment. The local communities do the work, while local media devotes column-inches to reporting on their efforts. There are prizes for the best projects.

Wexford Tidy Towns, through its Biodiversity Committee, has launched a campaign, with media partners Wexford Echo, aimed at encouraging more people to try household composting and rainwater harvesting. The aim is to provide both online and physical assistance to those wanting to get started with either or both.

There are loads of websites which can help you get started with composting at home. Try this one for starters: Eartheasy – Grow Compost

Likewise with rainwater harvesting. EcoIreland.ie has a nice intro on its site outlining what is involved: Eco Ireland – Rainwater Harvesting Systems

Main thing if you are just starting into either composting or harvesting rainwater is KEEP IT SIMPLE!

Also see the article in the Echo by Anna Hayes – “Echo Backs Future Proofing Project”

Posted in Biodiversity, Tidy Towns News

Future-Proof Wexford 08/09/2015

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Posted in Biodiversity, Events, Tidy Towns Competition, Tidy Towns News

Future-Proofing Wexford

Thanks to a local group, who are looking at setting up a Transition Towns Movement in Wexford, for sending in this information about their launch event on the 8th September at 7.30pm in the Wexford Library. A group from Wexford town have been putting their heads together to see if they can sow the seeds of a local Transition Town Movement. This is viewed as an important first step in the process of future-proofing Wexford. The idea is to start with Wexford town and hopefully follow with similar initiatives in New Ross, Enniscorthy and Gorey.

A launch meeting takes place at Wexford Library 7.30pm, Tuesday, September 8. The purpose of this meeting is to introduce the concept to Wexford and to highlight its importance. The guest speaker on the occasion is Davie Philip of the organization Cultivate and one of those behind the Cloughjordan Eco-village. He will outline the importance globally, and the benefits locally, of ‘future-proofing Wexford’. This will be a catalyst to launching the initial projects, which involve providing (1) A practical service to help with installation and maintenance of rainwater harvesting devices and (2) A service to assist householders to make good compost.

Following the launch the plan is to organise a short calendar of follow-up events to build further awareness of, and interest in, the Transition Towns concept. Among those events planned for the future are a home-grown BBQ at the Riverbank House Hotel in late September, transition-themed films at Redmond Park and Wexford Arts Centre and collaborative events with local organisations already working to preserve our environment, our heritage and bring communities together like Wexford Tidy Towns. Wexford already has a very dynamic and successful Tidy Towns group. Transition Towns, apart from sharing the same initials, is also about bringing people together to show what can be achieved by working together.

The process of future-proofing Wexford is not about creating another organization to make it all happen, it is about getting existing organisations, groups and individuals to do what they can to nudge us along in the right direction. The project is about saving money and the Earth’s resources and, more specifically, helping to ‘Future–proof the Model County’.

Facebook Event Page Link:
Future-Proofing Wexford

Posted in Biodiversity, Events, Tidy Towns News

Wexford Tidy Towns July 2015

Thank you to all our hard working volunteers who took part in our micro cleans and action days in July, some more great work was done to enhance the appearance of our town. Our first action day of the month was on the 4th July which saw us meet down on the Quays to clean the area around the rocks where there were lots of discarded cans, bottles, coffee mugs, sandwich wrappings and more. Please remember if you are enjoying your lunch etc. sitting on the walls on the Quays to dispose of your rubbish properly and not just throw it down in on the rocks (they are not a bin!) it is harmful to the environment and is also very difficult to reach in between the rocks. All our volunteers on the day did tremendous work though to remove a lot of this rubbish.
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Our next big action day was on the 18th July where we met at the Nicky Rackard statute and tackled the alley leading from the bottom of Skeffington Street into McCauleys’ car park. We painted, litter picked, removed graffiti and generally improved the area. It was in a bad way and got some great attention from our wonderful volunteers. Thank you to everyone who gave Skeffington Street an amazing facelift, the place looks fantastic.
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Well done to all our Wednesday volunteers too who come along every week to take part in micro enhancements in our town centre from litter picks (which include lots of cigarette butts!), painting and small maintenance projects. They are only one hour long and you can meet us at the bullring at 6pm on Wednesdays. We are always delighted when anyone joins us for a cleanup and if you can bring a friend with you even better.

We also handed out lots of cigarette butt storage cases this month to members of the public and local businesses during our activities to encourage people to stop littering their butts. Even if there is no bin nearby these cases can be used to store your butts safely in your pocket until you find one. Cigarette butts are one of our main pieces of litters we find during our clean-ups and cause huge problems for the environment as well as been unsightly. We can easily pick up 1000s of these during each cleanup. In the photo below taken by Denis Collins our chairman who counted 538 cigarette butts that he picked up just in the Bullring one night and there were others picking up equal amounts too. Please help us by stop throwing your butts on the ground if you smoke and instead dispose of them responsibly. We spend a lot of time picking up butts that could be better used on other projects.
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A big thanks also to all our residents who continue to keep their own area clean. There have been great projects going on from installing new flower beds, frequent cleanings and painting community areas. Well done to all the residents for their great efforts you are a credit to your community. Please keep up the great work, by everyone keeping you own place clean and being responsible when you are around the town together we can keep Wexford clean and beautiful, more information on the next action Saturday in August will follow shortly.

Posted in Cleanups, Events, Tidy Towns Competition, Tidy Towns News

Event: Underwater Photography Exhibition

As part of Wexford Maritime festival, there will be a free underwater photography exhibition hosted in Wexford County Hall. This exhibition is related to the one of our major environmental assets our water. So drop in and see what lies beneath the water that surrounds us. There are 102 pictures taken by Irish divers and snorkelers, showcasing what we can see off the Irish coast and abroad. You will be guaranteed to see our water wildlife in a different way so it is well worth a visit. The exhibition will run every day and you are invited to visit during the week any time from 9am – 5pm to have a look. The exhibition will finish on Monday 22nd.

Posted in Biodiversity, Events, Tidy Towns News

Action Day at GPS

15 Volunteers hits the streets of Wexford again on Saturday 13th, and once again achieved amazing results in a short space of time. We met at G.P.S Building/The old timber yard on Redmond Road at 10am. Even though there were a lot of cars parked in our way we managed to work around them and get lots of painting, weeding and cleaning. Thank you to everyone who came and helped make a huge improvement to this area. We will be continuing our Wednesday & Thursday 6pm cleanups and Saturdays at 10am so please come along and join us there is always something for everyone to do.

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See more photos of the cleanup here:

  • Action Day GPS Building Redmond Road 13/06/2015
  • Posted in Cleanups, Tidy Towns Competition, Tidy Towns News

    Action Day at The Old Cinema Wexford

    Wexford Tidy Towns volunteers have being completing a number of rejuvenating projects around the town this month. On Saturday 6th fifteen volunteers gave the Old Cinema on Redmond Road some much needed attention. They achieved a huge amount of work in a short space of time. They painted up the building, gates and railing aswell as doing a litter pick and weeding of the area. Thank you to everyone who came along and a big welcome to our new volunteers. We always need more people to join us and there is always something for everyone to do, so please come along to one of our Action Days.

    Action Day at The Old Cinema WexfordOldCinemaCleanupJune2015
    Before and After: Action Day at The Old Cinema Wexford 06/06/2015Print

    On Wednesday 10th we gave the windows in the Bullring a fresh coat of paint which complemented how wonderful the town is looking from the recent delivery of flowers from Wexford in Bloom. The nearby carpark was also cleaned and weeded. Well done to everyone who dedicated their time to helping keep Wexford clean and beautiful.

    Before and After: Wednesday Cleanup 10/06/2015Print

    Check out our Facebook page for more photos of our cleanups.

  • Action Day The Old Cinema Redmond Road 06/06/2015
  • Cleanup Bullring and Carpark 10//06/2015
  • Now is the time for all residents and businesses to be doing their bit to make Wexford as tidy and as beautiful as possible in advance of the Tidy Towns Adjudicator visit. We encourage residents to organise a clean-up, litter pick or some planting to make your street or estate more beautiful. Maudlintown, Fisher Row and other residential areas have been making a huge effort and they are looking fantastic. If your residents association or community group is improving or tidying your area please let us know we can help by organising equipment and disposal of rubbish. Send in some photos and we will highlight your great work!

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    Our next Action Day will be on Saturday June 13th meeting at 10am at the G.P.S. the old Timber company, out on Redmond road. Please come along, we will be painting, weeding, and litter picking. Over the next few weeks we need to keep our town as clean and tidy as possible in advance of the Tidy Towns Judges visit.

    Posted in Cleanups, Tidy Towns Competition, Tidy Towns News