New Campaign Launched to Tackle Roadside Litter

Your Council’s call for help to Call Out Litter Louts

How often have you been in a car when one of the other passengers have opened the window and chucked out an empty coffee cup, the packaging waste from a takeaway or an empty plastic bottle? Have you noticed your friends or family fling out a cigarette butt or cigarette box?

Kilkenny County Council, as part of a regional roadside litter campaign with Carlow, Wexford and Waterford County Councils, are calling for everyone in the South East to help us eliminate roadside litter. The “call out litter louts” campaign asks all of you who are in the company of those who chuck litter from their car window to do one simple thing “call them out” on their disgusting behaviour.

“The last National Litter Monitoring Survey for Kilkenny reported that 63% of littering is caused by passing pedestrians and motorists” says Bernadette Moloney Environmental Awareness Officer for Kilkenny County Council. “Roadside litter damages our environment and our wildlife.  Littered roadsides also give an unfair impression of an area and can have a significant negative impact on tourism in the South East. We hope that the “Call Out Litter Louts” campaign will encourage everybody to act and call out this filthy behaviour when its observed, as some gentle peer to peer pressure is needed to remind litter louts that their actions aren’t acceptable in our community”.

Cathaoirleach of Kilkenny County Council, Councillor Andrew McGuinness, welcomes this regional roadside litter campaign. “It is fantastic to see collaboration between the four Local Authorities, working together to try to combat this ongoing issue. We are all in the company of these litter louts from time to time, we need to play our part and call them out on their actions. Those responsible for roadside littering are blatantly belittling the substantial work carried out by many committed volunteers from Residents’ Associations and Tidy Towns Groups who work alongside our Council to keep Kilkenny looking its best” commented Cllr. Mc Guinness.

The “Call Out Litter Louts” campaign launched on the 20^th July. If you are interested in getting involved or learning more contact environment@kilkennycoco.ie call 056-7794470 or follow Kilkenny County Council on Facebook and Twitter.