Have you been watching the Sky Ocean Rescue programmes last week on Sky News? More than eight million tonnes of plastic is thrown away each year and ends up in the sea and on shores.
Even when I walk some of the famous walking routes in Ireland I see bins for dog poo but never a bin to put my plastic bottles or food packaging. Not everybody takes their rubbish home. Especially if they are camping and hiking for a few days.
I think there should be rubbish bins every few miles. I know people will still dump rubbish. But if there is a bin for them to put litter in, They don't (won't)have an excuse not to use them. Will they?
Why can't we have old fashioned shops that wrap everything in paper that can be recycled or put in the solid fuel range?
I drink a bottle of water every day. I wonder what the old people would have thought of buying bottled water? We recycle what we can and burn fuel taking our cans to the (wasp pubs) bottle banks. Then we find nowhere for the plastic bottles and warning signs of CCTV cameras and on the spot fines if we leave any litter. Yet there is nowhere to put our bin bags or carrier bags in. Could they not provide litter bins for us?
Why can't they employ people like yours truly to tidy up the beaches and countryside? Do you agree? Is it another case of towns getting all the amenities and the countryside getting nothing?
Start a campaign locally.
ReplyDeleteIt must be a lot easier to carry an empty bottle than a full one. I take all my walking-and-running rubbish home and I reckon to use a plastic drinking bottle on average at least 5-10 times. I currently have two misshapen much used plastic bottles full of ice thawing out as we speak. I may have to throw them away, but not into the street or the fields, rather into the next plastic recycling bin that I pass. These are usually placed near supermarkets, council tips, public areas like schools, libraries, pubs etc..
The worst sinners along the trails are energy drink drinkers. Clearly these drinks are a waste of money and a big con since they don't even provide enough energy to carry an empty aluminum can home.
Good on you Gwil for taking your plastic bottles to the recycling bins. Household rubbish is collected by private waste collection companies here in West Cork. They charge by the weight There are no public areas that have plastic recycling bins. There is a private waste company that you can pay 2 Euros to get rid of your plastic and cans for recycling. There are no litter bins in the countryside. A lot of hikers go wild camping in Ireland and they have nowhere to leave their rubbish. I realised when I saw Sky News that how can the rubbish on the beaches go away if there are no litter bins or anybody collecting it. Rural areas have very few jobs and I would gladly be paid to collect the rubbish off our beaches and from verges.. There are no rubbish bins in the countryside. Thanks!
DeleteWell, Dave you could of course do what I and my friends do and that is take plastic bag with you pick up the stuff and bring the rubbish home with you.
ReplyDeleteDrink cans are worth money as scrap aluminium. Sons of a friend of mine paid for a foreign holiday each with their scrap.
Good on you Heron for collecting the rubbish. If they provided a bin on the shore line I would collect it and put it in for them to collect. The government could create lots of jobs tidying up the Irish coast and countryside. Rural Ireland needs thousands of jobs. Thanks!
DeleteYou have to pay 2euros to recycle?? Incredible. We have just started recycling here and we were rather tardy but our grandchildren scolded us and made us recycle. There is a huge campaign in schools all over the country and they even give out special recycling bags. One of the few positive things this govt has supported. We yell at people we see throwing rubbish out of car windows or as they are walking along.
ReplyDeleteYes it's a private company LA. There is a bin waggon that comes to town on Mondaays and Fridays and you can take your recycling rubbish there for free, but you have to drive your car (burn car fuel) to get there.
DeleteGood on your grandchildren for recycling. Do you have many public rubbish bins on your island?
All over the place!!! You can throw your rubbish at any time day or night. Big bins all through the harbour, smaller ones on the streets. Rubbish gets collected every day, even Xmas day.....unless they're striking, then piles of evil smelling rubbish could be on the streets for days or weeks
DeleteNaples in Italy sent rubbish to Austria and now Rome is doing the same. Here they burn it for energy called Fernwarme. Where there's muck there's brass, as the old adage goes.
DeleteThanks for telling us about Fernwarme Gwil. Austria is one of the most environmentally conscious countries in the world. I have read that farmers in Denmark sell cow slurry to bio gas producers.
DeleteIt sounds like you have a very efficient rubbish collection service LA.
DeleteWe spent millions on research for a rubbish incinerator in Norfolk and then a large bunch of odd people, I cannot describe them in any other way, made so much fuss about it, had protest marches and blocked roads, and so the scheme was eventually abandoned and it is Carry on Landfill. It was certainly political. Millions wasted by our local authority who eventually gave in.
DeleteGosh that is crazy Rachel. Landfill can't be the answer. Thanks for telling us about the incinerator proposal in Norfolk.
DeleteWhat about a bobble bottle. That is a water bottle you fill at home and there is a filter in the top. It is a sports bottle top. I have one, it takes the taste of tap water out. It works out cheaper than buying bottled water and it is BPA free. Do they sell them in Ireland
ReplyDeleteNever heard of them until now Sol. They look good. We have well water. I think Argos sell them. I know Amazon do. Thanks!
DeleteI was brought up to take my rubbish home and still do it, sometimes even when there are waste bins available. I do clear rubbish when I see it and on my (short) walks I take a carrier bag for rubbish collection as Heron talks about.
ReplyDeleteFair play to you Rachel. I take my rubbish home too. I think councils should provide litter bins to encourage people(especially motorists) from throwing rubbish out of their car windows. I find it frustrating when I go on a hiking overnight trip and can find nowhere to get rid of my rubbish except on a campsite. I don't think it's fair they should have to pay to get rid of my rubbish. You and Heron set a very good example. Thanks!
DeleteIn this day and age rubbish is shocking, we have footpaths around fields here and the six formers from the local school go and park there and leave sandwich boxes, cans etc. Terrible
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with you BG that rubbish is shocking. I hate to think what it is doing to the wildlife and polluting the seas.
DeleteIt's not a problem for the countryside to have bins the problem starts when they need emptying, which as you say would be very frequently. There are few councils that can now afford to send out vans or trucks to empty the bins doted all over hillsides and at beauty spots on a regular basis, and overflowing bins would attract wildlife and potentially cause accidents.
ReplyDeleteIf I can't find a bin when I'm out and about (I live in the countryside) I take my rubbish home, or wait until I pass through a town that does have bins and hop out of the car and put my rubbish in the bin. As for plastic bottles I use my small ones over and over filling them daily from a large supermarkets own basic range sparkling water bottle. Saves me lots of money and means I have fewer empties to get rid of. The large ones are squashed and placed in our recycling bin or have multiple uses in the garden.
Thanks for your comment Sue. I like your idea of buying supermarkets own range of sparkling water. It's really encouraging to see all the people who have commented care about litter.
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