Zero waste initiatives by Pure Project volunteers in the South Dublin Uplands

THE Pure Project, a unique partnership which gathers statutory and non-statutory organisations in Ireland to fight illegal dumping and fly-tipping, has collected tonnes of litter and illegal dumping from South Dublin Uplands, reports Sihame Saady.

This initiative encourages the creation of volunteer groups to clean up, particularly people living in rural areas of Wicklow, South Dublin and Dun-Laoghaire, and to raise awareness around the preservation of their environments through the project’s Pure Mile programme.

Over 1,000 miles of road, mountains, woodlands, valleys, forestries and upland amenities have been cleaned since the beginning of 2023. This represents the largest number since the initiative began.

Family groups, individuals, community groups, walking groups, cycling groups, running groups, hiking groups, scouts, beavers, primary schools, businesses, and organisations, called the Pure Mile Groups, have removed hundreds of tonnes of illegally dumped waste and thousands of bags of litter and rubbish from the Wicklow/Dublin Uplands since the initiative was started in 2010.

“The success of the Pure Mile demonstrates the importance and necessity of the initiative and the need for continued collaboration and engagement to protect the South Dublin Upland environment,” explains Ian Davis, the manager of the Pure Project.

In addition to rubbish collects, Pure has introduced many enforcement, preventative, and educational initiatives; a local phone line for reporting of fly-tipping/illegal dumping (1 800 365 123), a GPS/GIS data-base to record all incidents of fly-tipping/illegal dumping, a Covert CCTV monitoring of affected sites, a suitable preventative measures, Pure informational material, public awareness, media and digital marketing campaigns.

They also provided volunteers a dedicated clean-up vehicle which responds to all incidents of fly-tipping/illegal dumping. The Pure Truck removed approximately 26,000 kilograms (26 tonnes) of waste, rubbish, litter, illegal dumping, from South Dublin Uplands in 2022.

Armed with determination, energy, enthusiasm, commitment and Pure Mile bags and gloves, the Pure Mile groups make a huge difference to the appearance of the South Dublin Uplands. There has been a visible decrease in litter and rubbish in the area.

With a unique landscape and environment, the majority of the uplands in South Dublin are of environmental significance, and part of the Wicklow Mountains National Park.

It’s an area of Irish and European importance and protected under the European Habitats Directive as a Special Area of Conservation.

Ian Davis is very proud of the positive evolution of the initiative, he said: “The Pure Mile was established in 2010 and the project has grown from 5 miles to over 1,000 miles this year.  Now that all Covid-19 restrictions have been lifted we are able to organise large scale clean-ups of the Wicklow/Dublin Uplands and we have seen an increase in people getting involved.”

Despite all the work that has been done, the association still needs people by adopting an upland area. To encourage the new volunteers, the organisation has set up a ‘Clean the Uplands’ prize with a chance to win €500. For more information about the organisation and the project, you can visit their website.