WATCH: New Video Encourages Tralee People To ‘Think Before You Flush’

.

Kieran Donaghy in the video urging Tralee people to ‘Think Before You Flush’.

CLEAN Coasts are asking the people of Tralee to join well-known Tralee people to ‘Think Before You Flush’ this World Toilet Day.

Tralee Tidy Towns and GLAN Tralee, in conjunction with Clean Coasts and Irish Water, have presented a new ‘Think Before You Flush’ video featuring well-known Tralee folk at local coastal locations.

In the clip, Tralee sports star Kieran Donaghy, Gillian Wharton Slattery (of Team Bramble and Tralee Tidy Towns) and Betesaida Hailegeorgis (of CH Tralee) appeal to the people of Tralee to ‘Think Before You Flush’ inappropriate items, such as wipes and cotton bud sticks, down the toilet.

Continued below…

.

Shot at locations including Cockleshell Beach, the Canal Walk, Blennerville and the Wetlands in Tralee, the video aims highlight the damage caused to our beaches, rivers and wastewater infrastructure by flushing these items down the toilet.

Watch it below…

‘Think Before You Flush,’ run by Clean Coasts in partnership with Irish Water, is a public awareness campaign highlighting the problems caused by flushing inappropriate items down the toilet.

Research has found that 30% of people in Ireland are still flushing items such as wipes and cotton buds down the toilet, causing detrimental effects on the wastewater network and the marine environment. The goal of the campaign is to encourage people to always #thinkb4uflush.

The campaign has been running nationally and regionally since 2015. For the 4th year of the campaign, Tralee was chosen as one of the regional towns, along with Mallow, Wicklow Town, Dundalk, Sligo Town and Bundoran.

To celebrate World Toilet Day and the Think Before You Flush campaign in Tralee, five Tralee secondary schools are invited to participate in a synchronised viewing of the short video.

World Toilet Day, which occurs annually on November 19, celebrates toilets and raises awareness of the 4.2 billion people living without access to safely managed sanitation. It is about taking action to tackle the global sanitation crisis and achieve Sustainable Development Goal 6: water and sanitation for all by 2030.

Speaking about the campaign, Emily O’Carroll, Clean Coasts Officer said: “The Think Before You Flush campaign was set up as a result of finding sewage related waste such as wipes on Irish beaches. 80% of marine litter originates from inland sources. Something as simple as a wipe can travel from a flushed toilet to the ocean and finally the beach possibly causing blockages and damage to marine life as it makes its journey. It is fantastic to see how the community in Tralee are spreading awareness of this important message. Well done to all involved. Simply put a bin in your bathroom and always #thinkb4uflush”.

Speaking about the video and scale of the problem associated with flushing the wrong things down the toilet, Aisling Buckley, Irish Water said: “Irish Water is delighted to support the work of Tralee Tidy Towns and GLAN Tralee and what better day to highlight their excellent video than World Toilet Day. Flushing of wet wipes in particular causes a lot of problems in the public sewer network and issues our treatment plants. We would like to thank all of those involved in creating the video, which is a very effective way of communicating an important message and reminding us all to ‘Think Before You Flush’”.

More information about the Think Before You Flush campaign can be found at www.thinkbeforeyouflush.org