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Locals feature in a new video urging those living in and visiting Bray to #ThinkB4UFlush

Bray locals team up with Clean Coasts and Irish Water’s Think Before You Flush campaign for a new video showcasing the beautiful Bray coastline while urging people not to flush unsuitable items down the toilet.

In a brand new video produced by the Think Before You Flush campaign, people living and visiting Bray are encouraged to keep their local environment; beaches and riverways clean by only flushing the 3 P’s – pee, poo and paper, down the toilet and putting wipes, sanitary items and cotton bud sticks in the bin.

Launched on Bray.ie, this video features recognisable faces from Bray: local business owner Conor Duggan; Irish Freediver Claire Walsh; Vet, Journalist and Author Pete Wedderburn as well as much loved town mascot and positivity ambassador Bray’s Barbie.

This video showcases the beautiful and diverse coastline and waterways Bray has to offer. Presenting stunning shots of the Seafront and the swans at the harbour, the video is a celebration of Bray’s wonderful natural environment, while offering simple steps to help conserve and protect it, directly from home.

The video urges the people of Bray to make small changes in their flushing behaviour, by never flushing items like wipes, cotton buds and sanitary waste down the toilet. The video highlights the impacts of flushing unsuitable items and encourages positive behavioural change.

Why #ThinkB4UFlush?

Unlike toilet paper, which is designed to disintegrate quickly in our pipes and sewage systems, the synthetic materials in items like wipes, cotton buds and sanitary products make them very strong and unable to break down. When these unsuitable items are flushed down the toilet, they can cause blockages in our wastewater network, pumping stations and wastewater treatment plants. These blockages can result in wastewater water overflows which can end up on our beaches and in our oceans, damaging our marine environment. Think Before You Flush is a public awareness campaign operated by Clean Coasts in partnership with Irish Water, which addresses the issue of flushing these unsuitable items down the toilet.

Speaking about the campaign Pete Wedderburn said “Bray has such a wonderful natural environment, and the sea is key  – the harbour, the beach, the birds, the seals and other wildlife. It’s so important to care for all of this properly, which is why I feel so strongly supportive of the Think Before You Flush campaign.”

Claire Walsh added, “Bray beach has been such an incredible resource to have on our doorstep, particularly over the last 18 months. The least we can do is take small steps at home to protect it.”

Check out the video below

About Bray Beach

The beach is located in the north of County Wicklow, adjacent to the border with County Dublin. The beach is on the seafront of Bray Town and is a 10-minute walk from Bray Main Street and 2 minutes from Bray Dart Train Station. The Beach stretches between Bray Head to the South and Bray Harbour to the North. The designated Blue Flag area makes up the Southern half and is 1000m long. The first 20 metres of beach seaward is shingle and steep sloping. Closer to the water’s edge, the beach is gently sloping with sand and pebbles.

The 2021 bathing season is on June 1st with a Lifeguard service active from 11 am daily. Lifeguards will be on patrol in Bray (North & South Prom).

Get Bray’s latest water quality information here.

Think Before You Flush

Think Before You Flush is a public awareness campaign highlighting the problems caused by flushing sanitary products and other items down the toilet. Consequences include blockages in our household plumbing, our wastewater network and littering our marine environment. The campaign is operated by An Taisce’s Clean Coasts programme in partnership with Irish Water and has been running since 2015. Each year, the campaign runs regionally in cities, towns and villages across Ireland. The campaign works with the local community, businesses and schools to promote changes in flushing behaviour through workshops, events and cleanups. The goal of the campaign is to encourage people to always #thinkb4uflush.

Join Think Before You Flush at www.thinkbeforeyouflush.org.

Clean Coasts

Clean Coasts is a charity programme, run through the Environmental Education Unit of An Taisce, which engages communities in the protection of Ireland’s beaches, seas and marine life. Clean Coasts works with communities to help protect and care for Ireland’s waterways, coastline, seas, ocean and marine life. Clean Coasts thrives to create tangible and immediate improvements to Ireland’s coastal environment, involving thousands of volunteers removing large quantities of marine litter from our coastline each year.

Clean Coasts has grown over the years and now includes two main national clean-up drives. Other initiatives include the Green Coast Award, the Love Your Coast Photography competition, the Clean Coasts Roadshows for coastal communities and the Ocean Hero Awards. All these initiatives are aimed at celebrating the beauty of our coast and the efforts of our volunteers across all of Ireland.

Currently, there are over 1400 registered Clean Coasts, volunteering groups. There are a variety of group types such as community groups, residents’ associations, tidy towns groups, sports clubs, schools, businesses, universities etc. Clean Coasts organises hundreds of beach clean-ups annually mobilising thousands of volunteers, removing considerable quantities of marine litter from Ireland’s beaches and waterways.  Our volunteering has expanded to also include Corporate Volunteering.

Read more about Clean Coasts here.