19
November
2020

‘There is no time to wait, when it comes to waste’: Miss Earth Ireland 2020 Eileen Mary O’Donnell on her advocacy

19 Nov 2020 | Camilla Suarez

The 20th edition of Miss Earth, i.e., Miss Earth 2020 is going to be held on 29th November 2020 and for the first time in history, Miss Earth will crown their new titleholder with a virtual coronation night due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The winner will succeed Miss Earth 2019 Nellys Pimentel of Puerto Rico for the title.

One of the delegates that has shown immense dedication and focus towards winning the title is Miss Earth Ireland 2020 Eileen Mary O’Donnell who is not only performing her best at the preliminary activities of the competition but also emerging as one of the strong contenders for the title. She is 27-years-old and stands 165 cm tall who has tried to set up a good example for her younger sisters as she believes that they would look up to her as someone who has been responsible and made an impact in the society.

 

 

Eileen understood the importance of giving back from a very young age which is why she has always volunteered for raising vital funds for a variety of organizations such as ‘SVP’ who tackle poverty in all its forms through the provision of practical assistance to those in need, the ‘Foyle Hospice’ who provide palliative and end of life care to patients suffering from Cancer and other life limiting illnesses, and the ‘MS Society’ who campaign, fund research and provide support and information to people living with MS and their families. The diva feels that this quality of giving back to the society is something she cherished about herself while she was growing up and is still very proud of it. Her motto is “Your greatness is not what you have, but in what you give.”

The diva is very excited to be able to represent her home country at such a prestigious platform. She stated, “It is a true honor to represent my home of Ireland in one of the most prestigious pageants there is. To be an advocate of Environmental Awareness is not only very rewarding but enables me to use my platform to educate others on what I have learned. We cannot allow our ignorance on environmental issues to be an excuse. We must not accept the reality that we face and instead challenge behaviors to make fundamental change.”

 

 

The diva’s advocacy for the competition is ‘WASTE’ – “We All Should Treasure Earth”. She further explains that the world generates tons of municipal solid waste annually which is not disposed of in a manner that is an environmentally safe. The harmful way of disposing waste has a huge environmental impact and can cause serious problems like it may smell or generate methane gas, which is explosive and contributes to the greenhouse effect.

She further adds, throughout the periods of economic boom and recession, Ireland has struggled with littering and fly-tipping, which indicates that an element of our society disregards the environmental impact of poor post consumption behaviors. “We need to get the message out there as Ireland’s population is going to grow, putting further demands on waste infrastructure. We must keep waste prevention programs and eco-design initiatives at the core of policy and economic initiatives to ensure environmental sustainability, as well as maintaining the beauty of Ireland.”

 

 

Eileen is an advocate of ‘Crann’ who’s goal is to leave the world a better place than we found it while helping people to look stylish. They set out to create a considered solution to what they saw as major issues around waste and the damage to our Earth. She is very confident, determined and focused towards performing her best at the competition and using the platform given to her for the best for her community and the country.

During the preliminary activities of Miss Earth 2020, Eileen has received some very supportive and uplifting responses from the Miss Earth Jury. Caption Irene Mora who is female pilot head for Wings of Hope Foundation complimented her by stating, “You have delivered and passionately showed your talent and at the same time, your intelligence. Congratulations. You deserve to be the winner of Miss Earth.” Miss Earth Fire 2017 Lada Akimova also mentioned, “I could feel the words coming from your heart.”  The diva could make a history for Ireland by securing a high position at the competition.

We wish her all the luck for the competition and hope that she’d achieve her goal.