Nearly three-and-a-half tonnes of rubbish was removed from Ireland’s coastal areas and inland waterways this weekend as part of a nationwide ‘Big Weigh In’.

Organised by Flossie and the Beach Cleaners, the first-for-Ireland clean-up saw more than 400 people take part across 26 counties on Saturday (31 July).

Intrepid clean-coasts advocate Flossie Donnelly was herself part of the litter-picking initiative at Sandycove on the day, in an effort to gauge “the weight of pollution on the island of Ireland”.

Drum Roll ?!!! The total weight that was taken off our waterways in 26 counties yesterday for our ‘Big Weigh In’ was… 3456kgs?! Thank you SO much to every group, family and solo cleaner that got out there and made a difference. We are a small charity but we are mighty ? pic.twitter.com/DIubsOac9U

— flossieandthebeachcleaners (@flossiebeachcl1) August 1, 2021

In just a two-hour window between 3pm and 5pm on Saturday, volunteers across Ireland removed a whopping 3,456kg of rubbish — the weight of an average orca.

Flossie’s mother Harriet told Independent.ie that among the waste collected from waterways this weekend were carelessly discarded disposable face masks, which do not break apart in water.