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Each year, the tobacco industry produces six trillion cigarettes that are consumed by one billion smokers around the world. These cigarettes contain filters mainly composed of microplastics known as cellulose acetate fibres. When improperly disposed of, cigarette butts break down through factors such as sunlight and moisture and release microplastics, heavy metals and many other chemicals, affecting the health of our ecosystems.

Cigarette butts are the most littered item worldwide, posing a major challenge to keeping the environment clean and free of plastic pollution. In our Cleaner Neighbourhoods Report for 2021/22, we reveal that Northern Ireland’s rural and urban areas are no exception, with 65% of all surveyed transects blighted by cigarette-related litter.

What’s more, when this form of plastic waste finally makes its way to our beaches and other waterways, it become a candidate for ingestion by marine wildlife. Research shows that the hazardous chemicals leached out by microplastics can cause long-term mortality in a range of species, including birds, fish, mammals, plants and reptiles. Inevitably, these microplastics enter the food chain and are associated with serious human-health impacts, including changes to genetics, brain development, respiration rates and more.

But while the negative implications of tobacco use on people is well documented, the detrimental impact it has on our climate is less understood. The tobacco industry has a whopping annual greenhouse gas emission of 84 megatons carbon dioxide equivalent. To produce tobacco on this colossal scale, there are round 200,000 hectares of biodiverse land cleared each year. And to compound matters, deforestation for tobacco plantations and tobacco curing leads to soil degradation and diminishes the ability of land to support the growth of any other crops or vegetation for regenerative and carbon-storing purposes.

Reducing the demand for tobacco is an integral piece of achieving the UN's Sustainable Development Goals. Beyond the compelling human health reasons for ditching cigarettes, it is imperative that we bin them appropriately for the sake of our fragile environment and climate.

Ards and North Down, Causeway Coast and Glens, Mid and East Antrim, Mid Ulster, and Newry, Mourne and Down councils all took home environmental awards at a recent presentation celebrating excellent practice in land and waterside management.

The 2022 Beach and Marina Awards saw environmental charity Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful hand out a total of 27 Blue Flag Awards and Seaside Awards at the Ballygally Castle Hotel on 18 May. Awards went to the operational teams behind sites that had achieved the highest international and UK standards in water quality, education, safety and accessibility.

Causeway Coast and Glens emerged as the big winners of the occasion with 12 awards, and increased their number of marinas from one to four. Ards and North Down’s four Seaside Awards represented the most for a single council in the category, while Mid and East Antrim and Newry, Mourne and Down claimed three Blue Flag Awards apiece.

There were also solo Blue Flag Award wins for Mid Ulster District Council and boatfolk, the independent owner of Bangor Marina and 10 other locations across the UK.

Environment Minister Edwin Poots MLA, who delivered a speech at the presentation said, “I am delighted that Northern Ireland again has had such success in the Blue Flag and Seaside Awards. It is inspiring to see so many of our beaches and marinas achieving the exceptionally high standards demanded by these awards. It is a wonderful achievement, especially given the difficulties in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic and the many challenges that has presented. I am grateful for the cooperation and collaborative working through the Better Beaches Forum, which is led by my Department and involves KNIB, Northern Ireland Water, councils and stakeholders, in achieving this number of awards.”

The Minister continued, “These awards are excellent news for our holidaymakers and bathers who can confidently enjoy our beaches and marinas, and avail of the award winning facilities that are on offer and I remain committed to ensuring that my Department continues to play a key role in running the annual programme for water quality testing at our world class beaches”

Dr Ian Humphreys, CEO of Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful added, “We are privileged to give out 27 Blue Flag and Seaside Awards this year, which signal that Northern Ireland’s beaches and marinas have reached best-in-class standards to match countries across the globe. These landmarks enrich the lives of our communities, and we send profuse thanks and congratulations to the teams who maintain their quality all year round.”

All sites earned their prestigious accolade after successfully convincing a jury panel that their application demonstrated the required quality thresholds. Awards apply from June to the end of September, to coincide with the beach season, and need renewed each year.

Members of the public are invited to enjoy the award-winning amenities at each site, which are designated bathing waters that have the highest water-quality standards and excellent facilities, making them ideal coastal destinations.

The Blue Flag Award is operated by the Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE), a worldwide environmental organisation that also oversees the Eco-Schools, Learning About Forests and Young Reporters for the Environment programmes.

FEE celebrates 35 years of the Blue Flag Award in 2022, and has so far issued 4,831 Blue Flags in 50 countries this year.

The Seaside Award is nationally recognised, rewarding local beaches since 2008.

• Nine Blue Flag Award Beaches winners – Benone Strand, Castlerock Beach, Downhill Strand, Portrush East Strand Beach, Portrush West Strand Beach, Whiterocks [Causeway Coast and Glens]; Cranfield Bay, Murlough Beach, Tyrella Beach [Newry, Mourne and Down]

• Nine Blue Flag Award Marinas winners – Bangor Marina [boatfolk]; Ballycastle Marina, Coleraine Marina, Portrush Harbour and Marina, Rathlin Marina [Causeway Coast and Glens]; Carrickfergus Marina, Glenarm Marina, Portglenone Marina [Mid and East Antrim]; Ballyronan Marina [Mid Ulster]

• Nine Seaside Awards winners – Ballywalter South Beach, Cloughey Beach, Groomsport Beach, Millisle Beach [Ards and North Down]; Ballycastle Beach, Waterfoot Beach [Causeway Coast and Glens]; Ballygally Beach, Brown's Bay Beach, Carnlough Beach [Mid and East Antrim]

Ahead of our return to the 153rd Balmoral Show, Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful welcomes the provision of three new drinking water stations at this year’s event.

We are echoing organisers' call for visitors to bring or borrow a reusable drinking container for the occasion, which can be filled with free filtered drinking water at various points on site and help to reduce the use of single use plastics at the event.

Alternatively, guests will have the option to buy one of the Balmoral Show’s limited-edition water bottles, which they can top up at the Show and beyond to stay hydrated.

Chris Gourley, Tackling Plastics Manager of Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful comments, “Reusable drinks bottles are a very simple initiative, but they make a tangible difference in preventing single use plastic water bottles from building up in landfill sites and, worse, our streets, rural areas and waterways. We are pleased to see that the Balmoral Show has made it easy for visitors to access sustainable drinking-water options this year.”

Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful looks forward to attending the Balmoral Show between Wednesday to Saturday, where we will be educating and informing on plastic pollution and asking attendees to sign our Plastic Promise.

We will also be inviting ticket holders to discover our other environmental themes, with members of our Climate Action, Biodiversity Recovery, Live Here Love Here and Eco-Schools teams all making the trip to offer more information about their respective programmes.

For the latest updates on the Balmoral Show, visit www.balmoralshow.co.uk or follow Balmoral Show on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter.

Caption: Rhonda Geary, Operations Director, Royal Ulster Agricultural Society unveils the new filtered drinking water stations at this year’s Balmoral Show in partnership with Ulster Bank.