Countryside littering.

CaptainInsano

Just on a drive home from work and as usual the road sides are littered with coffee cups, cans and bottles. I live in a rural area and this is the norm unfortunately, Monday mornings being worst after everyone hits the local takeaway and chipper paper ends up on the road. Or in the summer when the ditches get cut and it looks like a litter storm has swept through the area. I just don't understand the mindset, why not take it home with you? Surely there's at least one person on Boards.ie that casually litters than can shed some light? Effort of taking it out of the car and carrying it to the bin? Think it doesn't do any harm? Just a lazy inconsiderate prick? Anyone?

everlast75

Don't do it myself OP. I was brought up not to. I think it's the height of laziness and as you say only inconsiderate pr*cks do it. Fly tipping us worse again...

Graces7

It is the same on the ring of Kerry road here. I am planning to get a bag and the pick up device and clear it up myself, rather than shaking my old head... Once caught a man in DOnegal Town throwing an ice cream wrapper out of hi parked car window, right by the Garda Station.. I told him off and he was mortified! Some creep flung several sacks of rubbish off the top of the Conor Pass last year; a dangerous clean up...Thanks for reminding me of my plan;)

Pinch Flat

The favourite around me is people that pull up to say a McDonald's, 4 lads in a car, have their grub in the car park then just open up each door, dump the rubbish and drive off. Four nice piles of rubbish for someone else to deal with.

People that do that have zero respect. It's hard to know where the issue lies - just plain ignorance mainly.

CaptainInsano

Pinch Flat wrote: »

The favourite around me is people that pull up to say a McDonald's, 4 lads in a car, have their grub in the car park then just open up each door, dump the rubbish and drive off. Four nice piles of rubbish for someone else to deal with.

People that do that have zero respect. It's hard to know where the issue lies - just plain ignorance mainly.

You'd be hard pushed to find a bigger tip than a McDonald's car park.

sonny.knowles

CaptainInsano wrote: »

You'd be hard pushed to find a bigger tip than a McDonald's car park.

MOD-Banned

kneemos

Newstalk just had an item on it coincidentally. There's a new smartphone app "See It? Say It!".Just take a picture and it gets reported to your Local Authority along with the GPS location.

The J Stands for Jay

kneemos wrote: »

Newstalk just had an item on it coincidentally. There's a new smartphone app "See It? Say It!".Just take a picture and it gets reported to your Local Authority along with the GPS location.

Unless the local authority are going to put a sniper there to pick off litterers, this doesn't make me happy.

Graces7

last year I reported illegal gorse burning ( the week the National Park was on fire) to kerrycoc. They replied that my report had been logged with the Litter Warden.go figure!

MaryAntoinette

Graces7 wrote: »

It is the same on the ring of Kerry road here. I am planning to get a bag and the pick up device and clear it up myself, rather than shaking my old head...

The cyclists are the biggest offenders here, the rubbish alone on molls gap for example is shocking. The amount of energy gels, banana skins, water bottles, snicker wrappers, mars bar wrappers etc the rubbish would exceed a family's rubbish for a year.
There needs to be on the spot fines introduced for the ring of Kerry cycle next year to combat this problem.

JRant

The countryside is littered with once off housing, making infrastructure planning nigh on impossible. We should endeavor to rid our beautiful countryside of this blight.

PARlance

MaryAntoinette wrote: »

The cyclists are the biggest offenders here, the rubbish alone on molls gap for example is shocking. The amount of energy gels, banana skins, water bottles, snicker wrappers, mars bar wrappers etc the rubbish would exceed a family's rubbish for a year.
There needs to be on the spot fines introduced for the ring of Kerry cycle next year to combat this problem.

Are banana skins not ok now? I was taught to throw them away.

blackbird 49

Its the same where I live, coffee cups, McDonalds, supermac and others, I was coming out of the field I usually walk the dog in, there is a ditch and the amount of rubbish bags seems to be piling up more and more, plus the amount of vodka naggin bottles was unreal I say there where about 20, As for the dog s**t don't get me started

Hemerodrome

PARlance wrote: »

Are banana skins not ok now? I was taught to throw them away.

They take too long to decay. Them and orange peels last too long to throw away like that.

Log9

Best one I ever saw was a guy who threw rubbish out his car window in Cork City on a warm day one summer. He has his sun roof open.

An angry Corkonian woman picked up the rubbish and threw it straight back in and called him all the dirty ****s that you could possibly think of.

Harder to do when not stuck in traffic, but it was amusing.

If you see someone throwing rubbish blast your horn at them and let them know they're ****s.
If we accept it, it'll keep happening. It has to be made socially unacceptable.

Chinasea

The 'Deposit Return System' (Deutsche Pfandsystem) is a simple efficient and very effective solution that would go a long way to reducing significantly our litter problem, however there is no interest nor uptake by both our USELESS minister for the environment and the general public.

The cursed plastic bottle is one of the main litter problems. These empty bottles are strewn the length and breath of the country. Every day as I get on the DART an empty dribbling strewn CoCo bottle and or can rolls up to my foot, guaranteed the same will happen on the bus back home.

Take a walk a long the coast, your local street, park, etc and you see empty plastic bottles discarded all over the place.

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/consumer/is-it-time-we-got-the-bottle-to-return-to-deposit-schemes-1.1430948


cans/[/url]http://voiceireland.org/waste/urge-minister-hogan-to-adopt-a-depositrefund-system-for-bottles-and-cans/

fleet_admiral

It would be handy if Mc Donalds changed the colour of their bags to green so they blend in with the countryside after they have been thrown out of the car window

Pinch Flat

Chinasea wrote: »

The 'Deposit Return System' (Deutsche Pfandsystem) is a simple efficient and very effective solution that would go a long way to reducing significantly our litter problem, however there is no interest nor uptake by both our USELESS minister for the environment and the general public.

The cursed plastic bottle is one of the main litter problems. These empty bottles are strewn the length and breath of the country. Every day as I get on the DART an empty dribbling strewn CoCo bottle and or can rolls up to my foot, guaranteed the same will happen on the bus back home.

Take a walk a long the coast, your local street, park, etc and you see empty plastic bottles discarded all over the place.

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/consumer/is-it-time-we-got-the-bottle-to-return-to-deposit-schemes-1.1430948


cans/[/url]http://voiceireland.org/waste/urge-minister-hogan-to-adopt-a-depositrefund-system-for-bottles-and-cans/

I spent some time in Germany as an Erasmus student, so familiar with their 'pfand' system and general attitude to littering (or lack of - it's very rare to see it there). I found Germans' to be generally more civic minded and aware of environmental issues than their Irish counterparts - they'd also be more likely to approach someone who was littering. Less of the me, me, me socially immature attitudes you see here.

I was back there in the summer on holidays - they have a deposit system on plastic bottles as well. Absolutely zero rubbish there - and I traveled throughout southern Bavaria and Austria. I'm always saddened how grubby Ireland looks in comparison. Could never understand why we didn't implement a system here - used to have tin the 70's and 80's - I know with the demise of Irish Glass we have no domestic glass bottle manufacturing AFAIK.

Red Kev

50c on all plastic bottles and cans would be a start. Works in other countries, we had it until the 1970's so no reason why we can't introduce it again. Thee Vintners Federation, Musgraves, ISME are against it as it hits their members profits, as Chinasea said, there's no deesire from the politicians to do anything.

Larger and more bins near takeaways as part of PP would be another thing as well as making packaging easier to recycle and more biodegradeable.

Litter louts to be given community service would work, but would probably fail due to 'human rights' and H&S reasons. Pity, as it works in other countries.

Having waste disposal as part of the household charge was logical, but the councils got out of that quickly before it was implemented (DCC).

But again it all falls down to enforcement, without enforcement it won't work properly.

c_man

They should all be shot OP.




We need you to do the shooting though.

syklops

PARlance wrote: »

Are banana skins not ok now? I was taught to throw them away.

Ah the old "But its biodegradeable" excuse. Yeah well a dead dog is biodegraeable too, but that doesn't mean you can just throw it anywhere you want.

JupiterKid

We need a tax on plastic bottles and containers. Glass should be the norm and be recyclable. Litter is a big problem in many parts of Ireland.

I remember driving around West Cork a couple of years back and stopping to take in a magnificent view. Then, peering over the hedge, I saw discarded household items including a washing machine. Depressing.:(:mad:

syklops

JupiterKid wrote: »

We need a tax on plastic bottles and containers. Glass should be the norm and be recyclable. Litter is a big problem in many parts of Ireland.

I remember driving around West Cork a couple of years back and stopping to take in a magnificent view. Then, peering over the hedge, I saw discarded household items including a washing machine. Depressing.:(:mad:

Thats the answer to everything in Ireland. Put a tax on it.

SEPT 23 1989

I propose the magnetisation of all packaging

gramar

I was in Dublin as a teenager with my older brother and unwrapping something I dropped the wrapper on the street. He pulled me up on it and rightly so.

It's something I've never done since and is my nº 1 pet hate. I've said it to a few myself who wouldn't bother their bollix to put their rubbish in a bin. Inexcusable behaviour.

Knasher

I've gone out to clean the road outside my parents house a few times. Once I picked up ceramic dinner plate that somebody had left in a plastic bag, with a knife and fork. I can understand the lazy people who throw out normal rubbish, but who the hell throws perfectly good plates out of their cars...

Graces7

Just a thought but it would help if they added plastic bottle provision to the recycling containers. I take all my glass and tins etc there.

PARlance

syklops wrote: »

Ah the old "But its biodegradeable" excuse. Yeah well a dead dog is biodegraeable too, but that doesn't mean you can just throw it anywhere you want.

Ah the old "dead dog is biodegraeable too" excuse.... I'm not sure how long a banana takes to degrade but I'm guessing it's a lot sooner than rovers bones.

It's not an excuse in my eyes, I've been taught to do it from an early age. I play golf and most golfers would do the same. I obviously take care to dispose of it somewhere that is out of the way, in a bush for example, so it degrades in peace.

Genuinely curious if this is now a no no.

meeeeh

I actually think there are not enough bins around the towns. Once people get used to throwing stuff in the bins, they will also less likely throw things out of the car. But sometimes I do wonder are councils afraid to put out bins and trays for cigarette buds because it would mean more work. Once when my father was visiting he walked into the town on Sunday morning. He was horrified and said the local council in my home town would get at least twenty complaints on Monday about the state of the place on Sunday morning. And he is right, the amount of times you had to pick banana peels and similar from the trolleys in my local Tesco. And then they finally put the bin outside and surprise surprise there is no rubbish in trolleys.

Alun

It's reckoned that both orange and banana peels take up to two years to biodegrade completely especially in low temperatures in exposed places like mountain tops. Apple cores take much less time, around 8 weeks, so they're (just about) acceptable to throw away.

I do a lot of hillwalking here in Wicklow and the amount of rubbish up in the hills is ridiculous. I often see decomposing banana skins and orange peel, along with my other bugbear, used tea bags, stuffed in gaps in the summit cairns on mountains like Lug.

Red Kev

It's generally accepted that in the open, in a climate like ours it takes about 2 years for a banana skin to decompose. The problem starts with cyclists and hikers who all tend to take a break in the same spot and the amount of skins builds up. This is compounded by the acknowledgement that bananas are a good energy food, so they are a lot more popular.

That's the main jist of the debate anyway. I throw mine in the compost heap in the garden and they decompose fairly quickly, though not as fast as an apple butt.

Others will say if it's not found naturally in the countryside that you're in then it's litter, so take it home.

i cycle a lot, I used to bury them under leaves at the bottom of a bush, but I just take them home now.

The Backwards Man

Bins aren't the answer. Dirty bastards will always be dirty bastards every time they think they can get away with it.

200 hours community service for every item of litter dropped, proper anti litter campaigns instead of the half assed ones we have now to make littering as socially unacceptable as smoking or drink driving, and bin charges to be covered by the LPT to take away the incentive for fly tipping. Then we might be getting somewhere.

meeeeh

The Backwards Man wrote: »

Bins aren't the answer. Dirty bastards will always be dirty bastards every time they think they can get away with it.

200 hours community service for every item of litter dropped, proper anti litter campaigns instead of the half assed ones we have now to make littering as socially unacceptable as smoking or drink driving, and bin charges to be covered by the LPT to take away the incentive for fly tipping. Then we might be getting somewhere.

You mean Irish are a lot dirtier than northern/central Europeans because bins there certainly solve a lot of problems there? Then again when people are encouraged to protest against bin charges you do wonder what kind of a tip some politicians wish the country would become just so they can make some gains for themselves.

Very few people walk past the bin and throw something on the floor.

everlast75

there should be an hour class a week in school to teach civics - that includes awareness of what littering/graffiti does, respect for the elderly etc etc. Start them young and I'd imagine it would make an impression.

Taxing plastic bags did work a treat, but I'm not convinced it would work on plastic bottles etc. I think one of the Nordic countries pay people to bring recycling to them. Maybe that could be looked at..

The Backwards Man

meeeeh wrote: »

You mean Irish are a lot dirtier than northern/central Europeans because bins there certainly solve a lot of problems there? Then again when people are encouraged to protest against bin charges you do wonder what kind of a tip some politicians wish the country would become just so they can make some gains for themselves.

Very few people walk past the bin and throw something on the floor.

Nope, if there was the same apathy towards litter in Norway, Germany or Iceland from the general public, schools, local authorities and national departments as there is here they would be just as littered. Bins don't solve anything, they are just somewhere to put your rubbish.

maudgonner

meeeeh wrote: »

You mean Irish are a lot dirtier than northern/central Europeans because bins there certainly solve a lot of problems there? Then again when people are encouraged to protest against bin charges you do wonder what kind of a tip some politicians wish the country would become just so they can make some gains for themselves.

Very few people walk past the bin and throw something on the floor.

I don't think that's true tbh. Sure, more bins would help, and they need to be regularly emptied. But anyone who thinks it's acceptable to drop litter, whether there's a bin handy or not, needs an attitude adjustment.

Heavily enforced fines is the way to go imo.

whisky_galore

There are basically two types of people living here, those that care and do their bit not to leave their waste, be it wrappers or dog sh*t left after them and those messy bastards that don't give two fcuks and will happily dump black rubbish bags in the dead of night out of their cars as they're too fcuking mean to dispose of it properly.

We don't really do civic mindedness here.

And saying 'ah shur dere's no bins' is a cop-out....typical shirking of personal responsibility 'someone should do something' (as long as it's not me) mindset which seems to be endemic here.

meeeeh

maudgonner wrote: »

I don't think that's true tbh. Sure, more bins would help, and they need to be regularly emptied. But anyone who thinks it's acceptable to drop litter, whether there's a bin handy or not, needs an attitude adjustment.

Heavily enforced fines is the way to go imo.

Of course they do. And fines are fine but they will be never properly administered. The biggest pile of rubbish in my local woods is by the sign stating the fine for littering.

topper75

Hemerodrome wrote: »

They take too long to decay. Them and orange peels last too long to throw away like that.

They rot quickly in my experience. How long are you talking about?

Organic matter thrown in ditches is not an issue. It is a boon to mama nature in fact.

Gel foils and plastic bottles should be returned to rear jersey pocket. They don't rot.

Badly Drunk Boy

PARlance wrote: »

Are banana skins not ok now? I was taught to throw them away.

I think they are supposed to be correctly recycled into slapstick comedy material, yet this rarely happens anymore.

Turtyturd

gramar wrote: »

I was in Dublin as a teenager with my older brother and unwrapping something I dropped the wrapper on the street. He pulled me up on it and rightly so.

It's something I've never done since and is my nº 1 pet hate. I've said it to a few myself who wouldn't bother their bollix to put their rubbish in a bin. Inexcusable behaviour.

It's something I have actually had to pull my little brother up on in the past too, maybe it's an age thing, although I don't remember doing it when I was younger

Worst I have probably seen is somebody changing a nappy in the back of the car before just throwing it out the window. And I have actually seen it on more than one occasion.

tnegun

I once reported bags of rubbish dumped on the canal in Sallins. The next day I met the litter warden walking back from where I'd seen them and I asked if they where doing anything and he said they couldn't ID the culprit so he get it cleaned up eventually.

I continued my walk and when I reached the spot the bags where all opened ant tipped out on the ground. It wasn't until I saw the disposable gloves discarded beside some papers that I copped the warden had ripped open the bags searching for something to ID the owner so had gathered any letters or similar together when he didn't find anything he just through them on the ground along with his gloves!!

I haven't bothered reporting dumping since!

the_pen_turner

there are several problems in the country in relation to rubbish

1 put a tax on bottles etc like Sweden so tat you can take the bottle back and get your tax back.

2 include rubbish collection in your tax. that way everybody has a bin .
if you have a bin you will be less likely to fly tip

3 put recycling centres in every large village and town in the country so that you don't have to drive 15 miles to drop in a TV or cardboard etc

4 make every person caught littering and other Minor crimes go out and pick up rubbish. I think 250 hours would stop a lot of littering or at least it would be pick up

5 make as much packaging recyclable as possible. and do away with aerated polystyrene if possible to something that will compress down and not fill up bins. some kind of soya based plastic would work so that you can dissolve the packaging into a smaller block

6 put green waste places in every village and town so that people have a place to go with grass and bush etc instead of on the side of the road

7 put more bins in towns so that normal people can put stuff in them easier

8 make fast food outlets (and others too ) clean up outside there premises if it need to. the amount of chip bags outside some place the next morning is a joke

falan

How hard is it to take away your litter? I do a lot of hill walking/hikes in Ireland and the amount of litter is shocking. Take away your rubbish you dirtbirds..

CaptainInsano

I'd just genuinely like to have a conversation with someone who litters to see what their problem is, or catch someone in the act. I remember last year going for a walk on the beach and in the dunes close to the laneway there were bags of clothes, toys, a cot and general waste. Were the parents just at home thinking, "let's dump it in the really nice place where everyone goes for evening walks"? There's one of those rubbish crushers at the local shop that would have gotten most of it. Clothes bank for the clothes. I'm sure many new parents would take a free cot, if not use it for firewood.

Poochie05

The not enough bins excuse is such a cop out. People who litter don't even look for bins!

A while ago I was talking about littering with some secondary school kids in a group I volunteer with and they all openly put their hands up when I asked who threw litter. They didn't see a problem with it and anyway it was the council's job to pick it up so why should they care.

In our local McDonalds there are bins around the car park and even bins that you can drive up to and throw your stuff away without even having to get out of the car, yet you see people as described above who just open the doors and leave little piles either side of the car. Don't know how it could be made any easier, apart from having a bin at each individual parking space...

You can bring electrical goods to recycling centres for free, or to the shop when you buy a new item yet you still see electrical good like TVs and things thrown over hedgerows

And where there are bins they become a magnet for people filling them up with their household rubbish.

You can't seriously say that 'I couldn't find a bin so I threw it on the ground' is a valid argument or attitude even! We were always taught not to throw litter and to put it in your pocket and bring it home if there wasn't a bin.

meeeeh

Poochie05 wrote: »

The not enough bins excuse is such a cop out. People who litter don't even look for bins!

I'm don't litter, I never did. So I don't use lack of bins as an excuse. But I am also not Irish and, while there are still people who litter where I come from and it drives me mad, there is a lot less of it. And I don't think it's because people are naturally so much cleaner, it's just so much easier to dump stuff into the bin. I smoked when I moved to Ireland and trying to find bin nearby to dump the cigarette bud was sometimes next to impossible. But sure bins are just cop out, let's increase fines, have nobody to police it and then whinge because place is a kip.

ressem

Poochie05 wrote: »

The not enough bins excuse is such a cop out. People who litter don't even look for bins!

We were always taught not to throw litter and to put it in your pocket and bring it home if there wasn't a bin.

Civic behavior isn't an either / or. It's a sliding scale, like most human behavior. And repeating good behavior makes it more likely that you'll do the community minded thing the next time.

Some people volunteer to join a group to clean their community, some pick up litter on their walks, some don't litter, some litter when there's no bin on their route and don't want to arrive at their destination with a handful of food refuse. Some just dump it, and some go out of their way to cause offence, smashing bottles.

Knowing that there is a bin within 500 yards further along the route does make it more likely that I'll pick up the stuff. The council removing bins to double the distance between them does increase litter on the street; moreso when they do so at benches and gathering points after a 'refurbishment'.

Just as the ergonomics of those common bins with an opening that's barely large enough for a can; to discourage refuse dumping; means that more people leave dirt around and on top of the bin.

Shrap

I've a friend who is a washing machine repair guy for a well known brand. He lives right out in the sticks where ar5eholes often dump stuff like that, so any time he finds one, he traces the serial number and the owner He's turned up at three people's doors and dumped the offending item back in their yards with a warning (should have gone to the litter warden with the details, but not his style).

my3cents

If you have loads of bins then people start bringing their household waste out to fill them up.

There is no bin at a local car park at the beach near me and one day an empty household round bin blew down the road so someone put it in the corner of the carpark. By the weeks end the bin was piled high with peoples household rubbish. Someone was even too lazy to go to the bottle bank and dumped several crates of empty beer bottles by the side of it.

meeeeh

my3cents wrote: »

If you have loads of bins then people start bringing their household waste out to fill them up.

There is no bin at a local car park at the beach near me and one day an empty household round bin blew down the road so someone put it in the corner of the carpark. By the weeks end the bin was piled high with peoples household rubbish. Someone was even too lazy to go to the bottle bank and dumped several crates of empty beer bottles by the side of it.

It was still better than dumping it all over the place. At least you can prick it all up from the same place.