Slow Mow and areas managed for Biodiversity
Since BTT started discussing the idea of slowing down the mowing cycle of Bray Municipal District around its areas of responsibility a number of things have happened:
Mowing is taking place less often in areas such as the Southern Cross, Bray Head and other areas that BMD is responsible for including a number of housing estates, Mowing is taking place partially, for example, instead of mowing a large area completely, the mowers are cutting grass pathways through areas and leaving clumps of un-mowed areas to grow into long grass/wilding areas,
On the Southern Cross - around trees, BMD’s mowers have left a type of triangle around each tree so that a little wilding area is allowed to stay un-mowed, and sometimes mowing takes place on half of a grass verge and not the other half.
This represents a real move towards slow mow and could be called biodiversity sensitive mowing!
There is a noticeable difference between now and say three years ago in this space. The definition of slow-mow from a BMD perspective means two grass cuts per year in select locations.
The maps show some of the areas areas of bray which requested Bray Municipal District to treat as slow mow zones:
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Bray Head approach
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Cliff Walk approach
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Seapoint Road Bank
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Southern Cross Road “Greystones” roundabout - bank near hiking entrance to Bray Head.
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Southern Cross Road “Woodies” roundabout - bank at southern end.
ENVIRONMENTAL CAMPAIGNS
There is new urgency with the environment issues as they they gain importance with the Climate Change agenda. These will be updated in this section over the next few months. Here is a list of some of our past campaigns and actions.
Bray Tidy Towns Distribute Paper Straws Throughout Bray
Thanks to a grant from VOICE and REPAK, Bray Tidy Towns were able to distribute about 10,000 paper straws to popular outlets on the Bray Seafront.
Plastic straws are not recyclable, and with a large amount of single-use plastic ending up in our oceans, BTT saw an opportunity to supply local businesses with a less damaging alternative.
Outlets that received the straws include the Martello, Jim Doyles, Vergnano, Ice Cream Parlour, Butler and Barry and Cassoni's.
Thank you so much to all who participated, and thank you to all who already use compostable straws.
More Bray Cafes Sign Up to The Conscious Cup Campaign
Since then, another 14 coffee shops have signed up - with each one offering a discount to customers who bring their own reusable cup. Here's the full list of participating outlets:
1. Forno Ragazzi, 10 Albert Walk
2. Leonidas Chocolate Shop & Cafe, 25 Florence Road
3. Molloys Coffee Shop, 14 Quinsborough Road
4. Cafe Ragazzi, Unit 3 Aubrey Court, Parnell Road
5. Betelnut Cafe, Mermaid Arts Centre, Main Street
6. Liz Anne's, 102 Main Street
7. Cafe Gourmet, 16 Main Street
8. Gusto Italiano, 5a Goldsmith Terrace, Quinsborough Road
9. Red Bird Cafe, Unit 3, Southern Cross Retail Park
10. Cafe Letterario, 6 Albert Walk
11. Maison Moli, Florence Villas, 2A Florence Road
12. Starbucks, 16 Castle Street Shopping Centre, Ravenswell
13. The Butler's Pantry, 1 Boghall Road
14. Gino's, Strand Road
15. Butler & Barry, Strand Road
16. Spoons Cafe, 116 Main St, Ravenswell
Bray has 16 coffee shops signed up to the campaign and more pending, view the map to get a full run down of participating businesses.
Events like swap shops are important for environmental sustainability, as swapping clothes encourages consumers to extend the lifecycle of garments that have already been produced, rather than buying new things that require a lot of natural resources to create.
Refill Campaign
Bray Tidy Towns recently launched a campaign alongside refill.ie, encouraging local businesses to offer free water refills in a bid to reduce single-use plastic bottle waste. Read more information on the campaign here.
Our second sign up of the campaign is the wonderful Butler & Barry on Bray seafront, so drop into them for a refill if you're out for a stroll.
Currently, you can refill your water bottle for free at the following locations in Bray:
1. Springfield Cemetery, Killarney Road
2. Avoca, Kilmancanogue
3. Spoons Cafe, 116 Bray Main Street
4. Butler & Barry, Strand Road
Clean up at Bray Harbour for Earth Day
On April 21st, BTT joined with forces with Bray Coastcare in order to tidy up Bray Harbour and surrounding areas.
A huge thank you to all the volunteers who came out early in the morning on such a beautiful day. 30 people collected 22 bags of marine litter.
Support of the VOICE Campaign to Reduce Waste
VOICE are an environmental charity supporting legislation (the Waste Reduction Bill) that would:
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Ban disposable plastic plates and cups and other tableware (including non-compostable disposable coffee cups), which would encourage take-aways to use compostable packaging such as paper and cardboard
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Introduce a deposit/refund scheme for drinks containers
Bray Tidy Towns have taken action by writing to our local TD's and Hildegarde Naughton, Chair of the Joint Committee Communications, Climate Change and the Environment, asking for their support of the bill.