Upcycling Project with SVP Station Roundabout and ATU Donegal

Letterkenny Tidy Towns, SVP – Vincent’s Letterkenny Station Roundabout and the second year fashion students ATU Donegal have collaborated on a creative upcycling project.
This collaboration aims to promote sustainable practice in the fashion industry and showcase how to repurpose and reuse your clothing.
This display shows examples of how the fashion students transformed used clothes from the SVP shop.
This project is about more than just clothing, it is to empower our community to embrace climate change and conscious consumption.
We hope to inspire others to make more mindful choices and to join us on this journey, sparing clothes and fashion items from landfills.
#PowerofOneLK
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Waste and Litter Survey 2023

In May 2023, we developed an online Waste and Litter survey to get valuable community input in order to be an informed advocate and ensure our work programmes are focusing on issues important to the community. The highlights of the survey are below.

Food Waste – Do Householders use a good caddy or Brown Bin?

23% – Yes, we use a food caddy

22% – Yes, we use a brown bin

55% – No

Recycling

94% – Recycle

6% – No

Littering

85% – of respondents thought littering was a problem in Letterkenny

90% – of respondents have seen someone litter on the street

88% – of respondents have seen someone litter from their car

What could be done about Littering in Letterkenny?

89% – More litter wardens patrolling

84% – Increase fines for littering

49% – Imposing fines

24% – More provision of bins

8% – More education and awareness

Thank you to everyone who filled in the survey, it provided valuable information for the Letterkenny Tidy Towns committee.

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Sustainable Community LK with Change Makers Donegal

Can’t believe it has been a week already – we had a great event and workshop with Change Makers Donegal last Wednesday on Sustainable Community LK and more specifically on reusing and recycling clothes ♻️ Thanks to everyone who came and to Eilish & Fiona for the beautiful displays of repurposed clothing.

Our “Sustainable Community LK” event took place in conjunction with Change Makers Donegal on 11th October 2023 in the Station House Hotel – we had a full house.
What happened on the night:
▶️Launched the Letterkenny Tidy Towns Power of One Campaign
▶️Upcycling Tasters and Showcase
We discovered ways to repurpose and upcycle clothing – create accessories, scarfs, jewellery, bags, knit wear, interior items such as cushion covers and much more…
▶️Workshop on Acts of Sustainability Locally with Change Makers Donegal
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We were joined by like minded people and explored climate friendly living. We found out how to become more sustainable in our daily lives and community. Discovered ways to prolong the lifespan of garments to reduce waste and lessen the environmental impact of materials.
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Power of One LK Initiative

⚡️What’s your Power going to be?⚡️

LETTERKENNY Tidy Towns is encouraging the local community to embrace their power to effect change through the ‘Power of One’ initiative.

They launched the initiative with a specially created video on Wednesday 11th October in the Station House Hotel as part of their Sustainable Community LK event.

This initiative is about creating awareness of sustainability and how everyone can make a difference in our community, by small actions every day.

“The ‘Power of One’ campaign aims to demonstrate that everyone has the power to make small changes, Letterkenny Tidy Towns encourages the community to introduce these changes to their daily lives. This could be as simple as donating a bag of saleable clothes to a charity shop, repurposing and upcycling clothes, using a reusable water bottle, growing your own food or volunteering for Sunday’s litter pick with Tidy Towns,” Gerard McCormick, Chairperson, Letterkenny Tidy Towns explained.

Ann-Louise McClintock, PRO and Social Media Co-ordinator continues: “Sustainability encompasses a wide range of themes and this is just one step to raise awareness through our Tidy Towns community. We are utilising the power of social media and want to encourage the community to share their comments/photos with us through #PowerofOneLK. We want to see how they are using their power and engaging their friends and family members. This will be an ongoing campaign and we will be posting simple ways you can take part over the coming weeks and months.”

Everyone has the ‘Power of One’ and together this can make a significant impact, so join us in making a positive change to our environment and community. One person, one act at a time.

‘What is your Power going to be?’

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38th Annual Cleaner Community Garden Competition 2023

Letterkenny Tidy Towns launch the 38th Annual Cleaner Community Garden Competition

We are delighted to run our Annual Garden Competition for 2023 with four categories to enter this year – Best Large Garden, Best Small Garden, Best Wildlife Friendly Garden and our new award Best Kept Apartment Balcony Flower Display.

The competition is open now and will run until the 12th July 2023, the entries will then be judged and each category winner will receive a trophy and an Alcorns gift voucher. (Please note we can only accept entries from Letterkenny and the surrounding townlands.)

The Large Garden competition is known as the Sean Higgins Memorial Award. Adjudication will cover planting, colour including shrubs, grassy areas and flower borders encouraging wildlife.

The Small Garden competition is known as the Charles and Rose Devlin Memorial Award. Adjudication will cover planting, colour including shrubs, grassy areas, and flower borders encouraging wildlife.

The Wildlife-Friendly Garden competition is known as the May McClintock Memorial Award, sponsored by An Taisce. For examples of what we might be looking for in this category, see the biodiversity section of our website.

Our new category this year is Best Kept Apartment Balcony Flower Display Award, this category will cover flower/plany displays and making the most of your space.

We can’t wait to see the amazing gardens in the Letterkenny area – SEND your entries NOW to lktidy@gmail.com or via our Facebook page or post/drop in pictures to Magees Pharmacy.

 

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Tidy Towns Spring Talks/Seminars

We have two great garden themed talks this April and May – coming up first is “Garden Birds Through the Seasons” with Aengus Kennedy of NatureNorthWest.

Aengus Kennedy will deliver a talk for approximately 1/1.5 hours on Garden Birds through the Seasons. We will look at some lost sounds to start – birds that were once very common in the Irish landscape and now nearly gone. This will be followed by what the common garden visitors do throughout the 4 seasons. We will finish with a short run down of a few of the more common bird songs.

Register now for this event taking place Tuesday 18th April at 8pm in the Station House Hotel >> https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/garden-birds-through-the-seasons-tickets-597103050297

Our second event takes place in Tuesday 2nd May, again in the Station House Hotel at 8pm with the topic being “Designing Your Garden For Pollinators”.

Joanne Butler of OURganic Gardens will give a talk on:

  • Designing a garden for pollinators , working with the elements in Donegal .
  • A year in our garden and challenges we face (working with nature rather than against it).
  • What best plants to grow that provide food & shelter .
  • Working with the pollinator plan in gardens (they may already do this so we can have a conversation around this).

Register now for this event >> https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/designing-your-garden-for-pollinators-tickets-597276629477

 

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Paint the Town Initiative

Do you own a Business in Letterkenny?
Would you love to Redecorate your shop front or premises but don’t know where to start?
Letterkenny Tidy Towns are collaborating with La Maison to help you choose the perfect colours.
We will organise a consultation for you with La Maison and you purchase your paint and organise your painter.
Watson Hire is also offering a discount on paint in their store.
If interested please send us a message on Facebook or email lktidy@gmail.com
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Buy a Pollinator Tree and.. Get Second One Half Price

As part of our Biodiversity initiatives we are bringing back our pollinating tree offer!

We are delighted to be partnering with local garden centre Alcorns on this great biodiversity initiative. Buy a pollinator tree and get second one Half Price. Please note, this offer is while stocks last and you must provide your Eircode on purchase. (Personal details will not be shared publicly.)

List of fruit trees available for this offer:

Apple

  • Elstar
  • Jona gold
  • Golden delicious
  • James greive
  • Apffel
  • Mela

Cherry

  • Early rivers
  • Morello
  • Black cherry

Pear

  • Conference pear
  • Williams pear

Trio apple, pear (3 verities in one plant)

Duo apple, pear (2 verities in one plant)

 

Large selection of fruit trees available ranging from €24 to €36, Irish trees all suitable for cross pollination.

For more information on these trees please contact Craig at Alcorns on 074 – 9121541.

Happy planting!

The Letterkenny Tidy Towns team

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Letterkenny Tidy Towns launch the 36th Annual Cleaner Community Garden Competition

Letterkenny Tidy Towns launch the 36th Annual Cleaner Community Garden Competition

We are delighted to run our Annual Garden Competition for 2022 with three categories to enter – Best Large Garden, Best Small Garden and Best Wildlife Friendly Garden. Each category is dedicated to previous Tidy Town members.

The competition is open now and will run until the 31st July 2022, the entries will then be judged and each category winner will receive a trophy and an Alcorns gift voucher. (Please note we can only accept entries from Letterkenny and the surrounding townlands.)

The Large Garden competition is known as the Sean Higgins Memorial Award. Adjudication will cover planting, colour including shrubs, grassy areas and flower borders encouraging wildlife.

2021 Large Garden Winner

 

The Small Garden competition is known as the Charles and Rose Devlin Memorial Award. Adjudication will cover planting, colour including shrubs, grassy areas, and flower borders encouraging wildlife.

2021 Small Garden Winner

 

The Wildlife-Friendly Garden competition is known as the May McClintock Memorial Award, sponsored by An Taisce. For examples of what we might be looking for in this category, see the biodiversity section of our website.

Wildlife Garden Winner 2021

 

We can’t wait to see the amazing gardens in the Letterkenny area – SEND your entries NOW to lktidy@gmail.com or post/drop in pictures to Magees Pharmacy.

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Plans for 2022

The following article appeared in the Letterkenny Leader on April 7th

At our recent AGM, plans for Letterkenny Tidy Towns initiatives for 2022 were discussed. This month’s column will go over some of the highlights.

Murals

We have 3 Flight of the Bee Murals at Lower Main Street, at the Jim McCormick Memorial Garden and at the old ESB site on Port Road. These were done by Karl Porter of UV Arts. Due largely to Covid restrictions, there was a delay in completing the remaining 2 murals at the Quiet Moment and at Insomnia, however Ciaran Dunlevy has been commissioned to complete the last 2 murals. Judging by his work at Church Lane, these two final pieces should be perfect to complete the mural trail!

In conjunction with the murals, we are working on an app which will guide visitors around the trail, and would hopefully take in other trails around the town. It’s in early stages of development, but could be a real asset to the town’s tourist industry once it’s up and running.

Keeping the Town Clean and Tidy

A core part of our remit is to keep the town looking clean and tidy, and this year as usual we will have a number of schemes in place to help achieve this.

Firstly, as per usual we will have our Sunday litter picks, where a group of volunteers meets up at Market Square at 10.30 on Sundays, and Neil, our coordinator, keeps everyone stocked with gloves, bags, high vis jackets and litter grabbers. All are welcome, and you can just turn up and join us any time. A warm welcome is assured!

The Paint the Town initiative will continue, where we provide assistance to businesses to design colour schemes and spruce up the outside of their premises.

The Spring Clean week and the Clean Sweep initiative are to be launched in April.

The Clean Sweep is an initiative where we encourage business owners to look after their own area

The Spring Clean Week is a national campaign, organised by An Taisce, in which residents who sign up to organise a spring clean of their local area, whether it be an estate or a local road, are provided with advice and equipment. Last year , volunteers collected an estimated 2800 tonnes of litter. If your community would like to join in, you can register at http://nationalspringclean.org.

Cleaner Community Campaign is to be launched in April with all the competitions attached to it. This is our annual competition, with such categories as ‘Best small/large/wildlife friendly garden’, ‘Best kept estate’, ‘Best kept shop front’ and so on. This leads to our awards night in the autumn. We are hopeful that this year the awards night will be in person, as we have missed meeting and thanking our volunteers in person the last couple of years, thanks to Covid.

Pipeline Projects

There are also a couple of schemes in the pipeline, which still have to be worked out. More details will follow. These include a Sustainability Survey and a possible Streets and derelict buildings seminar with Church Lane.

In Addition to these initiatives, we have a number of plans based around improving biodiversity, and I’ll cover those in a future column.

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