An Taisce held the Climate Ambassador Awards recently in the Morrison Hotel which recognised the tremendous effort and dedication demonstrated by volunteers throughout the year.
Each Climate Ambassador received a certificate and some sustainable gifts, with an additional ten awards presented to secondary school students, PhD students, a podcast duo, farmers market organisers, Tidy Towns volunteers, and employees from PwC, Vyra, and Microsoft.
And Laois man Stephen McEvoy, from Cappagh, was among those recognised.
Steven is challenging the stereotypical litter-picker by hurtling down mountains on a bike.
Through his social media, he seamlessly blends quality mountain biking clips with how simple it is to care for our beloved outdoor spaces.
Normalising litter-picking, carpooling and the use of sustainable materials amongst a community of people with a shared love of the outdoors is a powerful action.
He has started a revolution by organising litter picks for mountain biking clubs around Ireland as part of the National Spring Clean.
Stephen also mucks-in at Climate Ambassador peat restoration days in the Wicklow Mountains.
He said: “Joining the Climate Ambassador programme gave me the opportunity to meet people and be part of a community.
“It can feel quite isolating taking climate action on your own, but feeling like I was part of a movement was a very empowering and positive experience.”
In 2023, Climate Ambassadors completed 331 climate actions, directly engaging over 710,000 people, creating 2,013 climate communications, reaching an estimated 4.6 million people.
Climate Ambassadors receive training at the start of the year in climate science, solutions and communications which enables them to carry out climate actions.
Throughout the year they are asked to undertake four key tasks – two climate communications and two climate actions, though many participants achieve a lot more.
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