the irish & litter

haminka

Actually, I agree with the opinion that the Irish are ready to litter their surroundings without a second thought.
Remember when my mum was visiting, we got out of the Dart and there was a group of teenagers in front of us. One of them dropped the empty packet of crisps, the other one casually threw away an empty bottle of Coke without any hesitation. My mum gasped with horror and they started grinning and calling her a fu...ing foreigner. They didn't look like skangers.
We went to a theatre one time and there was an older woman, very nicely dressed sitting beside us. She was making her way through a packet of sweets and very casually dropped every single wrapping under her seat so that at the end the floor was covered with them. When leaving the cinema I'd barely ever see anyone picking the empty bottles or leftovers of popcorn or ice-cream cups and throwing them outside into the bin. And the empty bottles, packets of crisps, newspapers left on the buses and trains is another story.
So I think saying that the Irish have a very casual attitude to littering is not an exaggeration.

Sappa

haminka wrote: »

Actually, I agree with the opinion that the Irish are ready to litter their surroundings without a second thought.
Remember when my mum was visiting, we got out of the Dart and there was a group of teenagers in front of us. One of them dropped the empty packet of crisps, the other one casually threw away an empty bottle of Coke without any hesitation. My mum gasped with horror and they started grinning and calling her a fu...ing foreigner. They didn't look like skangers.
We went to a theatre one time and there was an older woman, very nicely dressed sitting beside us. She was making her way through a packet of sweets and very casually dropped every single wrapping under her seat so that at the end the floor was covered with them. When leaving the cinema I'd barely ever see anyone picking the empty bottles or leftovers of popcorn or ice-cream cups and throwing them outside into the bin. And the empty bottles, packets of crisps, newspapers left on the buses and trains is another story.
So I think saying that the Irish have a very casual attitude to littering is not an exaggeration.

Certain Irish not all,I and many others take a dim view on littering.it's just like saying
Sure all the foreigners come here for the dole.
A certain amount of them do but the vast majority don't which is also true of the Irish and littering.

haminka

Sappa wrote: »

Certain Irish not all,I and many others take a dim view on littering.it's just like saying
Sure all the foreigners come here for the dole.
A certain amount of them do but the vast majority don't which is also true of the Irish and littering.

What I can say is that the attitude in Ireland towards littering is more relaxed than in other countries. I have never seen a cinema looking that dirty in other countries or litter casually thrown away in other European countries the way it is in Ireland. I allow myself this generalization because I've seen people of all age and social groups doing that and I found it really strange.

Sappa

haminka wrote: »

Sappa wrote: »

Certain Irish not all,I and many others take a dim view on littering.it's just like saying
Sure all the foreigners come here for the dole.
A certain amount of them do but the vast majority don't which is also true of the Irish and littering.

What I can say is that the attitude in Ireland towards littering is more relaxed than in other countries. I have never seen a cinema looking that dirty in other countries or litter casually thrown away in other European countries the way it is in Ireland. I allow myself this generalization because I've seen people of all age and social groups doing that and I found it really strange.

There are strict fines in place towards littering in Ireland which are not found in many European countries.
While it is unfortunate that you have seen excessive littering in your time in Ireland I can assure you that by generalising the problem you are incorrect.
Certain people litter the vast majority do not,I have 3 nieces who would not dare throw litter and wash their yoghurt containers before putting them in the bin.
It all comes down to the individual do they respect the landscape whether it be France or Romania or Ireland.
You cannot generalise a whole nation by the act of a few.

conorhal

eth0 wrote: »

Right, because it happens in Ireland it must be something only done by Irish people and litter isn't a problem in any other country. All the school kids? Did you observe each and every one of them doing this? I suppose its just like how they all smoke and all the girls are slappers.

Ingrained disrespect for authority? I don't think so. Quite the opposite infact, 4 years of austerity and not a single riot, people falling over themselves to pay the household charge on the first day of the new year. We must be the most obedient crowd of europe, there was actually an interesting documentary about this on Al Jazeera lately.

Irish people saying they love their country - also a load of shoite, here you find more people besmirching the place and moaning how Ireland is inferior to the USA, Canada, Aus, Germany, Holland etc and how everything is better in those countries.

Cause you spot one fella throwing away a wrapper all school children and all Irish people are bad. You're talking shoite

No, I don't think the OP is actually.

Sure, littering isn't something exclusively done only by Irish people, but the Portuguese aren't going to sort our litter problem out now are they?
And if the streets of Lisbon are a tip does this somehow excuse the fact that ours are also?
While litter is not uniquely an Irish problem, we do seem especially good at it, I've been in plenty capital cities and some are filthy, some are almost preternaturally spotless. Can it be that bizarre to suggest some nations have a culture of binning it and some of just dropping it? And which kind of culture should we aspire to be following?

As for an ingrained disrespect for authority, now that is a pervasive Irish attitude, and the kids have learned it from their parents. It's also a fact that attitude is getting worse. I've seen kids behave in a manner towards adults in the street or on public transport that a generation ago would have seen them drop kicked from a height before they had even half a chance to call childline.

OK, so we're not rioting on the streets, but that has noting to do with any kind of reverential awe we have for the authority of Enda Kenny now is it?
No, there are no riots because the privileged classes at the top of Irish society, the massive public sector and the welfare classes at the bottom have not taken any kind of serious hit, and those of us that have taken the hit are too busy working and clinging on to our jobs to have the time to riot, but believe me we're getting close to making some time in our busy schedules for it.

I'll agree with you that Irish people have very little national pride or respect for the country however, which probably contributes to the reason that they'll happily turn the place into a rubbish strewn tip without a second thought.

doctor evil

Linoge wrote: »

And you would be right if a team of teenagers didn't go in and take that rubbish from the cup holder and put it into a rubbish back literally after the film ended.

That is irrelevant, the team that goes in afterwards cleans up dust or particles that fall down accidentally.

They are not an excuse to ditch litter everywhere when it can be walked to the bin!

Cedrus

I was involved in a big cleanup recently, a crew of (mostly) secondary school kids spent 4-5 hours hauling a huge amount of rubbish out of a rough patch of ground, bagged it all up ready for collection and sat down for a rest. After we thanked them for their efforts they stood up and wandered off leaving a scatter of bottles and wrappers on the grass. We had talked for hours about the possible sources of the rubbish and the potential damage to wildlife etc. they shared our outrage and enthusiasm. But somehow, their litter was different?

Sappa

Cedrus wrote: »

I was involved in a big cleanup recently, a crew of (mostly) secondary school kids spent 4-5 hours hauling a huge amount of rubbish out of a rough patch of ground, bagged it all up ready for collection and sat down for a rest. After we thanked them for their efforts they stood up and wandered off leaving a scatter of bottles and wrappers on the grass. We had talked for hours about the possible sources of the rubbish and the potential damage to wildlife etc. they shared our outrage and enthusiasm. But somehow, their litter was different?

Ohh that is tragic.
I was once in the Tamil Negra rainforest,our guide explained how humans are encroaching on this beautiful area and we all agreed it was shocking.
To our disgust a father from
France with his kids had smoked 3 ciggs during the talk and stamped the butts into the ground.
He walked away leaving just the cigg butts in the middle of a lush forest,it was blatant lack of respect for the environment as they just stuck out.

Doc Ruby

summerskin wrote: »

I find your obsession with England amusing.

I find your obsession with me amusing. Play the ball, laddie, not the man. More amusing yet of course are those misguided souls of british origin who come in trumpeting about the "wretched state of Ireland", adding the odd dig about genetics and so on, which upon closer inspection invariably tends to be a far worse problem in the UK, whatever it is.

I mean really, every time.

Seriously, you think I knew anything about the state of litter in London until today? Its a self fulfilling prophecy with these types. Then they pull the persecution (!) card when this is pointed out to them.

I don't care what the people of england think of Ireland. I do care if some numpty gets in my face with gobshite jingoism, in particular if they come from that joyous garden of tolerance and understanding that has been planted just to our north, and what a mess that will be to clean up when it comes back under proper civilised governance.

Hope that clears things up for ya.

analucija

haminka wrote: »

What I can say is that the attitude in Ireland towards littering is more relaxed than in other countries. I have never seen a cinema looking that dirty in other countries or litter casually thrown away in other European countries the way it is in Ireland. I allow myself this generalization because I've seen people of all age and social groups doing that and I found it really strange.

The biggest problem here is the lack of the bins on the streets. Even kids won't throw stuff on the ground if they are standing next to a bin. Go to any German town and compare the number of bins in public places and you will very quickly see why the difference.

SHOVELLER

And apparently Dublin City Council are taking away bins. While it is understandable if idiots who wont pay their bin charges are using them it is certainly not helping.

Also this Dirty Old Towns on RTE is a magnificent example of what can be down and what should be done. What are the councils doing?

cml387

SHOVELLER wrote: »

What are the councils doing?

Nothing,because we won't pay the household charge.

SHOVELLER

cml387 wrote: »

Nothing,because we won't pay the household charge.

Too simplistic there.

What have the councils been doing for years when the whole country is filthy?

cml387

SHOVELLER wrote: »

Too simplistic there.

What have the councils been doing for years when the whole country is filthy?

Clonmel corporation are out at 6 on a Sunday morning cleaning up the filth that the younger generation leave on the street from the previous night.

Not cheap,with double time to pay.

But maybe some people think they work for free?

Cedrus

analucija wrote: »

........................... Even kids won't throw stuff on the ground if they are standing next to a bin. .....................................

Oh yes they will!

Dudess

fryup wrote: »

I mean the irish always say how much they love their country so why don't they show it by not messing it up.

You're Irish - what's the "the Irish", "they" stuff about as if they're another group? We get it, you've an inferiority complex.

Roadtrippin

For those that think Ireland doesn't have a littering problem...

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2012/0903/1224323535774.html

Q.E.D

suicide_circus

In defense of the OP, have seen quite a few people in Dublin throwing wrappers on the ground without a second thought and they were all natives. Saw one degenerate throw rubbish on the ground when he was no more than 2 meters from a bin, it actually didn't even occur to this guy that rubbish should go in the bin, dirty knacker .
I can't remember seeing much lettering on my travels.

Fuinseog

fryup wrote: »

What is it with some irish people who seem to have a total lack of respect for their surroundings.

I saw a school kid today unwrap a chocolate bar and threw the wrapper over his shoulder without a second thought. All the school kids throw litter around and some adults aren't much better.

Is it to do with our DNA our ingrained disrespect for authority and rules??

I mean the irish always say how much they love their country so why don't they show it by not messing it up.

it is something you learn from your parents. two five year olds threw banana skins into my garden yesterday and i went out and told them off. they picked them up. a teenager would have told me to f off and their parents would back them up.

someone has ditched two black plastic bags of rubbish on the our road, but none of the neighbours are interested in picking it up. I am tired of picking up other peoples rubbish.

Fuinseog

namloc1980 wrote: »

I think that people are much more conscious of litter and cleaning up after themselves these days. Of course you'll always come across a few muppets who don't care but such is life.

things have changed slightly for the better but a lot of folks do not regard it as littering when they put their rubbish in plastic bag and leave there.

why are there so few rubbish bins about and why the few bins that do exist overflowing with rubbish?

Fuinseog

Dudess wrote: »

You're Irish - what's the "the Irish", "they" stuff about as if they're another group? We get it, you've an inferiority complex.

the Irish were very patriotic during the olympics with flags everywhere. when it was over I found it odd to see those flags throw on the streets and in the gutter.

Fuinseog

BraziliaNZ wrote: »

I've no doubt it's filthy here too. But going on areas in Dublin where I lived and where I am now, it looks a lot cleaner here. The less priveleged the people in Ireland I guess the less they care about littering or rules. Malahide village was always nice and tidy.

thats because some folks in society get everything handed to them so why should they respect it?

they will say they live in shiit area and I always say to them the area is hit cos you make it shiit.

Teyla Emmagan

It's down to how you are raised, like so many other things. Litter throwing knackers beget more litter throwing knackers sadly.

Fuinseog

Teyla Emmagan wrote: »

It's down to how you are raised, like so many other things. Litter throwing knackers beget more litter throwing knackers sadly.

its not a class thing either . the upper classes will litter just as much as the tracksuited class.

JohnMarston

Not nearly enough litter wardens and the punishment for littering not severe enough would add to people not caring about the consequences of littering either

dirtyghettokid

the litter is disgusting...especially when you are entering or exiting the motorway.. all the rubbish on the side of the exits. gross!!

i see a lot of illegally dumped rubbish around north county dublin. if you contact IBAL on twitter with a location and pic if possible, they will get on the case of the council responsible. it does work. saw some fingal lads removing the illegally dumped bags of rubbish a day or two later.

mitosis

When I see kids littering on my street I pull them up for it. Now some of them dump their cans etc over my wall as some sort of ironic revenge. I pick up rubbish on my road most days. No one else does this -they'd all live in filth because they didn't put it there.

Lately there has been a large amount of takeaway rubbish on the street in the morning - I'm seeing the rubbish of about eight people - cans, curry chips boxes, Supermacs carrier bags. And even though it is outside their property, other people leave it there - waiting for me to pick it up I suppose :mad:

Sometimes I call the litter warden to report dumping of furniture or bags of household. The record wait I had for a mess to be cleaned was six weeks. Six weeks of calling every few days to be told the call wasn't logged, it rained heavily, or the crews were really busy that week.

So, OP, the attitude generally is shiite, but I've seen the same thing in France, Italy, Spain. It's people, not Irish people.

Solair

I'm in Brussels at the moment and Wow! There's rubbish everywhere. It's mostly down to a rather chaotic bin collection system that uses white plastic bags instead of wheelie bins. Recycling, green waste etc is all picked up in colour coded bags. Trash blows everywhere .

People also seem to out their bins out two and three days ahead of the day as there's nowhere to store rubbish in a lot of apartment complexes.

Irelands system is incentivising illegal dumping by making the pick up prices too high. Also, the bag collection systems that remain in some city centre areas in Dublin really ought to be replaced by narrow wheelie bins.

Same goes for plastic bag based recycling systems which were (are still?) used in Cork City.

syklops

Solair wrote: »

I'm in Brussels at the moment and Wow! There's rubbish everywhere. It's mostly down to a rather chaotic bin collection system that uses white plastic bags instead of wheelie bins. Recycling, green waste etc is all picked up in colour coded bags. Trash blows everywhere .

People also seem to out their bins out two and three days ahead of the day as there's nowhere to store rubbish in a lot of apartment complexes.

Irelands system is incentivising illegal dumping by making the pick up prices too high. Also, the bag collection systems that remain in some city centre areas in Dublin really ought to be replaced by narrow wheelie bins.

Same goes for plastic bag based recycling systems which were (are still?) used in Cork City.

Funnily enough the garbage collection here is very basic. We have black bins out front, that are collected every couple of days, everything goes into them. If they are full, you leave the bag next to them, and everything is collected. Its the one thing I never have to worry about is bin collection / waste disposal etc.

We don't even have to buy tags and what not. The city garbage collectors collect it. Its part of the cities duty to keep the place clean so they do. In Ireland, especially in Dublin it is too chaotic, with different colour bins, and different color tags that you have to remember to buy tags for as well. I remember sharing a house, the day before payday, the day before the bin gets collected, down to your last 2 euro, do you a) buy a bin tag, or b) buy dinner. The result, the bin was left to be collected the following week.

Fuinseog

what I find odd about living in Dublin (and other towns?) is that some houses have three bins, while others have only one. are we not all obliged to separate our rubbish?

we have come a long way.I remember coming home from Germany in the nineties and separating the glass. everyone thought I was mad and it was a struggle to find a bottle bank.