MARCH 2013-ANTI LITTER ADVERTISEMENT AWARDS
The Awards Ceremony for the presentation of prizes in the 2012 Anti Litter Cinema Advertisement was held in the Arts Centre in March 2013.
Over 100 students, and teachers were present along with the Mayor of Roscommon, Mr. Tom Crosby, Mr. John O’Rourke, Senior Executive Engineer, Sarah Scott, Senior Staff Officer, and Marion Parker, A/Environment Awareness Officer, Roscommon County Council.
This project is promoted by Roscommon County Council as an anti litter initiative for secondary school students.
M. Parker stated all the advertisements have been written, produced and acted by students themselves. The advertisements are imaginative and humorous and really deal with the topic of litter which is still a major environmental problem today. DVD’s will be sent to all national schools in the county and also made available to Tidy Towns Groups, and the winning advertisement will be shown in the local cinema.
M. Parker thanked all the students involved and also the teachers for giving their support and time to this project. She also thanked Frances Raymond and Kevin Smith from the New Media Institute.
Participating schools were:
- Roscommon County College, Roscommon town
- CBS Roscommon town
- Convent of Mercy, Roscommon Town
- Castlerea Community College
- Elphin Community College
- Strokestown Secondary School
- Youthreach, Ballaghaderreen
The overall prize in the competition went to:
Elphin Community College
2nd Prize – Scoil Mhuire, Strokestown and
3rd Prize – Roscommon Community College
Overall Winners – Elphin Community College
2nd Prize Winners – Scoil Mhuire, Strokestown
3rd Prize Winners – Roscommon Community College
April 2013 – NATIONAL SPRING CLEAN LAUNCH
National Spring Clean launch in Castlecoote with the Mayor and Sarah McGovern from An Taisce. Picture of Castlecoote Junior
Tidy Towns Committee.
Anti Litter Sign in Hyde Park, Roscommon.
MAY 2013 - CIGARETTE LITTER CAMPAIGN
A Cigarette Litter Campaign was launched by the Mayor in May 2013 along with Larry Brennan, Roscommon Vintners Association.
The campaign focused on public houses and bookmakers and anti litter stencils were power washed onto footpaths near these premises throughout the County. Posters and beer mats with anti litter message were also distributed to public houses and book makers.
Mr. Larry Brennan, Mayor Tom Crosby and staff from Roscommon
County Council at Cigarette Litter Campaign launch.
November 2012 - Roscommon County Council Anti Litter Initiatives in Ballaghaderreen
You may have seen unusual paving stones in the footpaths in Ballaghaderreen town recently. Marion Parker, A/EAO stated that these paving stones are part of Roscommon County Council ongoing anti litter awareness campaign. 5 engraved limestone paving stones have been put in place in the footpaths in Ballaghaderreen town, each carrying a different Anti Litter message, such as ‘Love Ballaghaderreen-Keep it Litter Free’; ‘Bin Your Gum’, and ‘Bin Your Litter-It’s Easy’.
You will see these anti litter messages outside Newsround, the Post Office, Durkins, near St. Nathys College, and the Library. The idea is that these are permanent reminders to the public not to litter and to use the litter bins, and to take pride in their town and keep it Litter free. The stones are high quality limestone and are a very attractively placed in the footpaths. This is a novel idea and is the first time such an initiative has been used in Roscommon and it is hoped to do something similar is other towns in the future.
Ballaghaderreen Tidy Towns are delighted with this initiative and with having these unique anti litter messages throughout the town.
iRadio's and Roscommon County Council’s “Where have you Bin?” Anti Litter Campaign Put Litter in……….Get Cash Out
Regional radio group iRadio, along with the Environmental Departments of 12 Local Authorities has launched a major anti-litter promotion which will run throughout the month of November and finish in early December.
This is a groundbreaking campaign as it is the first time that twelve localauthorities have come together for an initiative of this kind.
Roscommon County Council, Galway County, Galway City, Mayo, Longford, Leitrim, Donegal, Cavan, Monaghan, Meath, Westmeath and Louth Councils all join iRadio for the“Where have you Bin?” campaign which aims to encourage listeners to use bins and reduce litter in the region.
Random bins across these counties will be watched by the undercover iRadio iTeam, who will identify lucky bin users and reward them with €100 in cash. The campaign was launched at iRadio’s offices in Athlone on the 7th November.
Marion Parker of Roscommon County Council said: “The Where have you Bin” campaign is the first campaign of its kind anywhere in the country and I’m delighted to be involved. iRadio is one of the most popular radio stations in the country amongst young adults and the local authorities in the region have been looking for a way to engage with people on the issue of litter for a while now and the partnership with iRadio is the perfect way of doing this.
This campaign is a unique and novel way of encouraging people to put their litter into the bin. It’s an added bonus that the lucky ones who get spotted by the I Radio team doing the right thing will also get €100.
Putting your litter into a bin is easy and I’m hoping that as a result of the “Where have you bin” campaign more and more people will form this good habit and help keep the streets of our counties litter free. “
SEPTEMBER 2012 – Roscommon County Council – Dog Fouling Campaign
Roscommon County Council launched an awareness campaign on Dog Fouling with Tidy Towns Groups in the County recently. Monksland Tidy towns, Roscommon Tidy Towns, Boyle Tidy Towns, Castlerea Tidy Towns and Ballaghaderreen Tidy Towns were all involved in the campaign. Marion Parker, A/Environmental Awareness Officer, Roscommon County Council, stated that this anti dog fouling campaign aims to encourage dog owners to bring a bag with them every time they walk their dog so that if the dog fouls in a public place they can use the bag to collect the waste and dispose of it in a sanitary manger, either in a bin or bring it home.
She also outlined that Dog Fouling is a major issue for many towns, villages and public spaces in County Roscommon. It is the most offensive type of litter and is consistently raised as a public concern. This current campaign is taking a multi faceted approach to communicate its message to dog owners, including bin stickers, posters and clean advertising.
Clean Advertising involves stencils with an Anti Dog Fouling message which is sprayed or power washed onto the footpath leaving behind the ‘cleaned’ artwork. This kind of advertising is environmentally green and lasts for a few weeks. The advantage of this type of advertising is that the message is delivered close to the dog fouling activity thereby highlighting the activity and reminding dog owners of their responsibilities. It can also be easily carried out where new problem areas arise.
Bin Stickers are also being placed on litter bins to remind dog owners to use a bag to clean up and to dispose of the waste in the bin. Posters are also being placed in public buildings and shops. A limited number of pooper scoopers are also available in Libraries and public buildings in the County.
Campaign Launch in Roscommon town
March 2010
Historical News
Waste Disposal Leaflets Published in Four Languages.
Roscommon County Council's Environment Section has recently published "Information Leaflets" in four different languages setting out details on how to dispose of Household Waste. The leaflet gives details of Civic Amenity Sites and Bring Banks in the County and their opening hours, also details of Waste Collectors.
The leaflets are printed in Portuguese, Polish, Russian and Lithuanian. Copies are available in the following locations:
- Roscommon County Library
- Boyle Library
- Castlerea Library
- Ballaghaderreen Library
- Strokestown Library
- Elphin Library
- Citizen Advise Offices in Roscommon Town, Castlerea Town, Boyle Town and Ballaghaderreen town.
Copies are also available from the Environment Section, Roscommon West Business Park, Roscommon town.
March 2010
Roscommon County Council is announced as Finalist in The Green Awards
Roscommon County Council was a finalist in the Green County Council Award category which recognises county councils who have provided a comprehensive array of sustainable services and who have actively encouraged businesses and consumers to become greener in outlook and practice. The awards ceremony took place on the 11th March at the RDS and unfortunately Roscommon County Council did not take home the prize on the night which went to Wicklow County Council.
Special guest of honour, John Gormley, Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government said that the The Green Awards, now in their second year, were "well on their way to becoming the premier event in the environmental calendar" and that "the green economy provides one of the most significant opportunities for job creation and growth for Ireland over the coming decades". Duncan Stewart, who judged the awards, said that this year's entries were of "an extraordinary high standard and showed how seriously business, community groups, individuals and government departments were taking the issue of climate change."
Roscommon County Council-Gum Rap Competition Revealed
Abbey Community College, Boyle
Prize winners in Roscommon County Council's Gum Rap competition were announced at a prize giving ceremony in the Arts Centre, Roscommon, on Tuesday 26th January.
Secondary school students in the County were asked to design a Gum Rap cover and the winning designs will be printed on gum raps and distributed to schools, youth clubs, and public offices.
This is one of the many anti-litter initiatives promoted by Roscommon County Council in its ongoing environmental education programme.
The winning students came from Abbey Community College with Mark Phelan, Abbey Community College, Boyle, receiving first prize for his design and Michael Grehan and Aine Horan receiving runner up prizes.
Suzanne Dempsey, Environmental Awareness Officer, thanked all students who participated in this competition and congratulated the winning students. She outlined that gum litter is one of the most common types of litter that destroys our footpaths and is very difficult and expensive to remove. This aim of the Gum Rap competition is to encourage everybody to dispose of their gum litter properly. As part of Roscommon County Council's campaign against gum litter two promotional campaigns were held last year in Boyle and Roscommon town and three specific Gum Litter bins were put in place, again in Boyle and Roscommon town.