Ballynahinch friends back home for clean-up of Christmas litter

Ballynahinch friends back home for clean-up of Christmas litter

1 January 2013

SPENDING the Christmas holidays litter picking may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but that’s exactly what two childhood friends from Ballynahinch did recently.

Ben Acheson and John O’Connor — who were home for the festive holidays — were dismayed at the amount of litter they witnessed and decided to do something about it.

Ben works at the European Parliament in Brussels for Scottish MEP Struan Stevenson, while John is studying to be a teacher at Edinburgh University.

And while others took the chance to relax during the Christmas break, the duo set to work to make Ballynahinch and Murlough beach near Newcastle that little bit cleaner, with their voluntary litter-collecting initiative having a major impact.

“We were dismayed by the amount of litter strewn across local areas and as it was the season of goodwill, we decided to take action,” explained Ben.

“We asked staff at the Ballynahinch Community Centre if we could borrow two litter-pickers to clean up the playing fields at the rear of the building and after spending the whole day there collected nine large bin bags of rubbish. We also cleaned paths and walkways beside the Loughside Drive area.”

Ben and John then headed off to Murlough beach where they noticed an “intolerable amount of litter.”

Ben explained the MEP he works for in Europe sits on the Fisheries and Environment Committees and that as a result, he was well aware of the dangers and negative impacts that discarded plastics have on sea life and the marine environment.

“John and I spent another day cleaning the beach between Newcastle and Dundrum and filled more bags with rubbish. Unfortunately, the litter along the beach seemed to be mostly plastic that had washed ashore. There was also a considerable amount of litter,” he revealed.

Ben says the duo’s efforts were completely voluntary and hopes they made a small difference to the local community and the environment.

He also explained the hardest part of the litter picking was trying to separate the waste for recycling.

Ben and John plan to spend another day collecting litter at the Riverside Walk area in Ballynahinch and paths and bushes around the town’s Windmill Hill area.

They also believe there is a need for more litter bins in the town, particularly around the playing fields at the rear of the community centre in Windmill Street.