Thousands get mugged by Tidy Towns

ENNIS Tidy Towns has come up with an idea to help reduce the amount of waste from disposable tea and coffee cups around the town.
This week they launched their Love your Mug Campaign under the banner of waste minimisation.
“We have designed and purchased 1,000 travel mugs (pictured), which we are giving free to transition year students in Ennis and to the public that purchases takeaway teas and coffees in town.
“We have carried out a lot of research into what is been thrown out in the council’s street bins, and littered on the ground, and found a high percentage of discarded litter is disposable coffee and tea cups,” Noel Crowley of Ennis Tidy Towns committee explained.
The committee is challenging the students and people of Ennis to love their mug and reuse it, and to try and halt the use of disposable mugs.
“Our mugs have being trialed in shops in Ennis and they will fit into most coffee machines and retailers we have dealt with have no issues with people presenting with the mugs,” he added.
He also said that they visited some secondary schools to see if they would use the mug and they picked the style and shape of the mug.
“This was essential as they will be the people using the mugs, and we are hoping by using transition year to begin with that if they use them and they accept them, peer pressure from them will lead to it being acceptable for the lower age groups.
“When visiting secondary schools, we also sowed the idea that if they were using their own mugs, the shop would be saving money on the disposable type, and would they be prepared to barter with the shops, as a lid and disposable cup can cost up to eight cents to buy.
“The reason behind this was to show that reducing waste, and helping to cut down on climate change has advantages, directly to themselves in the form of monetary savings and that our love your mug campaign is worth participating in,” Noel said.