Causeway Coast and Glens Council launches innovative LiveSmart story map

Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council’s Environmental Resources Officer pictured with a volunteer from No 6 Queen Street, Coleraine, an artist co-operative, who have been awarded PlasticSmart and H2O On The Go recognition. Please note this photograph was taken prior to current public health advice

The LiveSmart campaign, spearheaded by the Environmental Resources team, aims to encourage, inform and involve all residents and visitors to live more lightly on our planet by taking simple steps to protect our environment.

Combining information and mapping, the story map creates an immersive experience which brings LiveSmart to life in an exciting and engaging way.

Created by Council’s Geographic Information Systems (GIS) team, it shows what people across our Borough are doing to take better care of our environment and help in the fight against climate change, littering and food wastage amongst others. With easy to navigate pages, it invites residents, businesses, schools and our whole community to share what they are doing and encourage more participation.

Welcoming the initiative, the Mayor of Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council Alderman Mark Fielding, said: “LiveSmart is based on the idea that if every person tries their best to live sustainably, the combined impact will be huge. Our Borough is known worldwide for its beautiful scenery and amazing visitor experience. We want to preserve that for years and generations to come. This requires making a conscious effort to live a more environmentally-friendly lifestyle. I would encourage everyone to start today and make a few small changes for the better.”

Story maps use GIS tools to join location information with photos, video, audio and text to depict activities and events.

Council’s GIS Digital Analyst, Sarah Fannin, explains: “Our LiveSmart story map is an easy, interactive way for people to get involved in helping to fight climate change by making everyday changes to their lives. When we can see all our individual and group actions, events and activities together in one place, we can see the overall positive impact we are having.”

There’s already great support for the LiveSmart campaign with more and more organisations taking part. No 6 Queen Street, Coleraine, an artist co-operative, has been awarded PlasticSmart and H2O On The Go recognitions.

It sells pieces made by local artists and uses sustainable, environmentally-friendly packaging options instead of plastic.

Marion, one of its volunteers, explained: “We have always been very aware of our impact on the environment and keen to play our part in reducing single use plastic so we use paper bubble wrap and corrugated cardboard instead. We are looking at other innovative ways to parcel our artworks and are investigating the use of sheep fleece, which is of course compostable.

“We recently remodeled our shop to ensure customers have a safe and pleasant one-way route round the store. As part of this, we bought beautiful pre-loved steel and glass shelving that was otherwise destined for landfill. Our crafts and artworks are now beautifully displayed on these and we’ve done our bit for the environment by reusing rather than buying new.

“We are delighted to become a PlasticSmart and H2O On The Go business. The process is simple and I would encourage others to join in and to LiveSmart.”

To view Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council’s new LiveSmart Story Map, please go to https://www.causewaycoastandglens.gov.uk/live/bins-and-recycling/livesmart.

If you have a story, group or LiveSmart idea, Council would love to hear from you! They can be contacted via the website, story map or ring 028 2766 0248.