After what felt like weeks of rain, the sun shone as this year's Team Dublin Clean Up day dawned in Phibsborough last Saturday. Our team of enthusiastic volunteers made the most of the beautiful morning to give our lovely urban village a tidy up after the winter months. Aged from 9 to, ahem, a bit more than 9, new and regular volunteers were supplied with pickers, hi viz vests, gloves and bags, thanks to Dublin City Council. We tackled the main paths and lanes in all directions from Doyle's Corner, from our usual meeting place in front of Phibsboro Library.
Before the Clean Up
As we know, the north inner city, including Phibsborough, has ongoing issues with dumping and littering, but our efforts last Saturday go to show what a difference a team of volunteers with just two hours to spare can achieve: we gathered over 20 bags of litter, and reported more than 10 sites of domestic and commercial dumping to Dublin City Council (DCC) for them to deal with (using either the 'See It? Say It' app for reporting, or by emailing customerservices@dublincity.ie).
After the Clean Up
Following the litter collection, we enjoyed a picnic next to Villa Bank Garden, our new biodiverse and sustainable garden, located behind Phibsboro Library and beside Mountjoy Jail.
The Clean Up Crew
Incidentally, if you have noticed a recent reduction in dumping around the known black spot at the bottle bank at Phibsboro Shopping Centre, this may be due to the new visual and audio warning systems recently installed by DCC, together with daily inspections by wardens.
This was initiated following representations by Phibsboro Village Tidy Towns. DCC inform us that they have already issued a fine in relation to this persistent dumping, and we would encourage any bottle bank users to take their empty boxes home after visiting the bottle bank, and to find alternative arrangements for their domestic waste to avoid a costly fine!
Our next third Saturday of the month clean up will take place after Easter, on Saturday 15th April. Meet at 10am at the library, all equipment will be provided, and we will enjoy some refreshments afterwards at 12pm by the Butterfly Gates. Everyone is welcome. Any enquiries, please email phibsborotidytowns@gmail.com.
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