Rathmullan is to host its own ‘Sustainability Fair.’
The event is being organised Tidy Towns and Clean Coasts group on Saturday 26th March at the St Vincent de Paul Centre, from 10am until 3pm.
The theme of the event is Environment Management, efficient use of resources, water and energy management and showcasing circular economy practices.
We learn that ‘Sustainability’ ‘presumes our resources are finite, and should be used conservatively and wisely with a view to long term priorities and consequences of the ways in which resources are used, its about our children and our grandchildren, and the world we will leave them’.
Most people are familiar with the 3 R’s, Reduce, Reuse & recycle, but now there are two more added to the mix, refuse and repair. Our lives are full of stuff we don’t need, and everything has an environmental cost. For example, even a simple action such as refusing a disposable coffee cup in favour of your own reusable one can make a significant difference over time, the ‘Conscious Cup.’ Or Refuse to buy single use plastic bottles of water, and again use your own refillable drinking bottle. Look out for the Refill.ie signs nationally. Buying fruit and veg not prepackaged, any or all of these simple actions can make a difference.
Jimmy Stafford, Head of Operations & Business Manager for Donegal will start off proceedings at 10am.
He will be followed by the first Guest speaker of the day, Suzanne Bogan Waste Awareness Officer with Donegal County Council concentrating on Recycling, especially relevant due the recent recycling changes that have been announced.
She will talk all about the importance of recycling and not putting unnecessary waste in our regular bins and what goes where! Des Glackin from WIAC Inishowen, will enlarge on his new innovation on rainwater harvesting, and enlighten consumers on efficient use of resources and conservation.
Clean Coasts representative Olivia Jones will then present details of the ‘Dirty Dozen’, and elaborate on the ‘think before your flush’ campaign, and ‘Break up with plastic’, which will all further help protect our domestic and marine waters, especially relevant to us all, bearing in mind exactly where we live on the shores of Lough Swilly. Did you know that common plastics have a life expectancy of 450 years in seawater!
Stevie Donnelly from Sligo IT, Donegal mentor for the sustainable energy communities programme for SEAI, who support communities collaborating and identifying ways of saving energy locally, will also be in attendance 11.30 – 1.30pm.
He will be available to chat with and offer advice to anyone looking for information about the new grants available from SEAI which were recently announced, and also discuss questions that people might have about home energy upgrades, for easy ways to reduce energy and living costs.
There will also be displays of circular economy practices in upcycled and recycled items. These talks will be of interest to the business consumer as well as the domestic user, so come along for an informative morning in a bid to do ‘our bit for the planet’.
Don’t forget that Earth Hour also takes place on Saturday evening 8.30pm and by participating in this mass Annual universal ‘Black Out’, we are taking part in a collective action and creating a positive environmental impact throughout the world. Further information www.earthhour.org
