Clean Coasts and Irish Water Celebrate Cork Woman Taking on Sewage-Related Litter

Cork woman and one of the founding of Mooncup, Eileen Greene will be celebrated this International Women’s Day as one of the Irish women who are taking on the challenge of reducing sewage-related litter.

This International Women’s Day, the Think Before You Flush Campaign is set to celebrate the women who are leading the fight against sewage-related litter that pollutes our oceans and damages our wastewater systems.

The campaign aims to highlight the impact of sanitary waste on our natural and marine environment and it is run by Clean Coasts in partnership with Irish Water.

To mark International Women’s Day, a series of interviews will be launched the Clean Coasts social media channels featuring women who are tackling the problem of sewage-related litter and the single-use products that can cause it.

One of those who was celebrated at the event was Cork woman Eileen Greene, Company Director at Mooncup.

Originally from County Cork, Elaine is a true sustainability pioneer. Driven by her ion for environmental issues, she ed Mooncup Ltd in 2004.

As one of the founding of the team, she has contributed to the success of the world’s first silicone menstrual cup and the positive shift in the conversation around periods and re-usable products.

Mooncup has seen a 165 per cent increase in Irish sales over the past year, predominantly in the 18-24-year-old demographic.

Sheelin Conlon, who set up the sustainable lifestyle store The Kind in 2018 is also set to featured= at the event alongside Elaine Doyle and Jean Hobbs.

Elaine Doyle has been the driving force behind Clean Coasts’ Think Before You Flush campaign since 2016 while Jean Hobbs sees first-hand the impact of the waste as Project Manager for the Ringsend Wastewater Treatment Plant Upgrade.

The plant sees over 60 tonnes of wipes, sanitary products and other non-flushable items removed from the screens at the plant every month.

Every single month, Irish Water clear in the region of 2,000 blockages from our wastewater systems with about 75 per cent of these blockages are caused by items such as wipes and sanitary products being flushed down the toilet.

Speaking about the importance of the Think Before You Flush campaign and the Ringsend project, Jean Hobbs said:

“We all have a role to play in safeguarding our environment and wastewater infrastructure.

“In Ringsend, we remove approximately 60 tonnes of wipes, sanitary products and other items from the screens at the inlet to the wastewater treatment plant every month.

“It is important to ‘Think Before You Flush’, only the 3 Ps; pee; poo and paper should be flushed down the toilet and everything else should go in the bin,” she added.