On Thursday, 2 February, TY students volunteered to help clean up our planet and collected over 60kg of plastic waste.  

Rory Jackson, of Ocean Plastics Plastic project has developed an initiative which involves collecting all kinds of data from micro plastics to larger more upcycled plastic along with water samples from freshwater streams and building up a knowledge base of the worst polluted areas, and of coastal changes due to erosion and climate change.  

Once the TY students accepted Rory’s challenge (one which they could not refuse)  of cleaning Reen harbour to make it sparkle - they were grinning ear to ear and were full of excitement counting down the days to the outing. The students had put a plan in place to slowly but surely play their part in society by trying to make their local surroundings clean again.

Finally, the day of the first clean arrived and the students rushed out the door, adamant to make a mark on their task. The group arrived at Reen knowing there was work to do. It took slim to no time for everybody to get stuck in.  

 Students went in groups of three and four and scattered across the beach with bags and litter pickers wearing gloves and high vis vests. The students were astonished by the amount of alcohol cans, coffee cups, tyres and bags of recycling. They put their feet to the pedal and put in a good 2/3 hour shift making the beach spotless. The clean-up finally came to an end bringing all of the waste into one big heap weighing a whopping 60 kg.  

 Rory Jackson led the operation and was very impressed with the effort that these TYs had put in. The Skibb students were in their element and looking back on it, they were thriving during the few hours work. The students really made a mark on this project and plan on continuing to do so over the coming weeks. This was the first trip and definitely won’t be their last.  

 Many thanks to Rory, Ms. Burchill, Mr. Chris O’Brien and Ms. Wycherley for organising and assisting with this event.  

Report by Sean Connolly, Ryan McCarthy, Daniel Cleary and Stephen Harrington.