The 2-Minute Street Clean is a Clean Coasts and National Spring Clean(NSC) initiative. It evolved from the 2 Minute Beach Clean campaign started by Martin Dorey in the UK. As 80% of marine based litter comes from the land, Clean Coasts and NSC decided to replicate the idea and tackle it at source!
The campaign really complements the GLAN initiative and has been rolled out in both Tralee and Dingle. It offers a great starting point for businesses and the public to take part in meaningful actions, whilst drawing their attention to the types of litter found on our streets. Hopefully, starting a conversation and how to eliminate the common types of litter found. Perhaps through actions like cutting down of single use plastics or the implementation of awareness raising campaigns. The 2 minute street clean can also be done individual or as a group activity, as GLAN Tralee discuss below.
“To date, GLAN Tralee have held several 2-Minute Street Cleans in the town centre, with up to 30 individuals and several GLAN businesses participating each time. At these events clean-up kit is a made available to the public and and 2 minute street clean sandwich boards have been erected as a meeting point and awareness raising tool.
You might think that perhaps 2 minutes is too short a time to conduct a meaningful street clean, in reality it works really well in raising awareness on the issue of litter, through social media posting and local media coverage. It also encourages people to engage with Glan Tralee and to start thinking about their own behaviours and how they can start to transition to a more sustainable way of living.
The participation of the local businesses in the street cleans is also starting to create opportunities to collaborate. It offers a chance to be part of something positive in the town and ultimately, to create social capital which can be built on in other projects and initiatives.”
