Rubbish on roads

learn_more

Went for a leisure cycle up to Pontoon from Castlebar yesterday as it was a nice mild day.

I can't get over the amount of rubbish I saw the side of the road. General rubbish like wine bottles, coffee cups, pop cans, crisp packets and whatnot. Quite a bit of fly tipping going on too - in one spot a mattress and a clothes rack thrown into a field. Full black refuse sacks that have ripped open.

I do a lot a leisure cycling and I've never seen anything like what I've seen yesterday. It's totally disgusting. Are refuse collection charges so high that ppl can't afford those services. Even so I can't understand the mentality of ppl who deliberately drive to a scenic spot just to dump rubbish out their car window.

Last time I was on the N5 heading up to Swinford I noticed that the side of road is strewn with empty oil or petrol cans. This would indicate that there seems to be a significant proportion of ppl in our midst that are just downright dirty.

Do the council play a role in clearing up this garbage? I'm minded to get on to them cause it's just out of control afaics.

mayo.mick

learn_more wrote: »

Went for a leisure cycle up to Pontoon from Castlebar yesterday as it was a nice mild day.

I can't get over the amount of rubbish I saw the side of the road. General rubbish like wine bottles, coffee cups, pop cans, crisp packets and whatnot. Quite a bit of fly tipping going on too - in one spot a mattress and a clothes rack thrown into a field. Full black refuse sacks that have ripped open.

I do a lot a leisure cycling and I've never seen anything like what I've seen yesterday. It's totally disgusting. Are refuse collection charges so high that ppl can't afford those services. Even so I can't understand the mentality of ppl who deliberately drive to a scenic spot just to dump rubbish out their car window.

Last time I was on the N5 heading up to Swinford I noticed that the side of road is strewn with empty oil or petrol cans. This would indicate that there seems to be a significant proportion of ppl in our midst that are just downright dirty.

Do the council play a role in clearing up this garbage? I'm minded to get on to them cause it's just out of control afaics.

Seems to be getting a lot worse lately alright. This service from the EPA was launched 2 years ago, "see it - say it". Free to download, when used to report a problem the local council are notified immediately with the details.

http://www.epa.ie/enforcement/report/seeit/

Jimmy Garlic

Most of it probably flew out the windows and side doors of various Transit vans.

Trojan

You do tend to notice it more when you're cycling. I saw a lot of drinks containers - coffee cups, soft drinks bottles - along N59/R317/312 (Bangor Erris to Newport) when I was out for a spin. It could be a small number of "regulars" who chuck stuff out the car window daily or weekly.

There's two aspects - prevention and clean-up. On the latter, I like what they do in some places in the US - a stretch of road is sponsored with a small sign, and the sponsor either cleans it regularly, or funds the local authority to do it. Edit: it's called "Adopt-a-Highway".

mayo.mick

Trojan wrote: »

You do tend to notice it more when you're cycling. I saw a lot of drinks containers - coffee cups, soft drinks bottles - along N59/R317/312 (Bangor Erris to Newport) when I was out for a spin. It could be a small number of "regulars" who chuck stuff out the car window daily or weekly.

There's two aspects - prevention and clean-up. On the latter, I like what they do in some places in the US - a stretch of road is sponsored with a small sign, and the sponsor either cleans it regularly, or funds the local authority to do it. Edit: it's called "Adopt-a-Highway".

We have a similar thing here in Mayo, "Adopt a mile" run by MAyo co co. Annual national spring clean takes place every April, community groups, tidy towns and green schools usually take part.

learn_more

Good to see someone tackling this general issue. http://www.con-telegraph.ie/news/roundup/articles/2017/03/28/4137356-time-to-clean-up-unsightly-river/ .

miketheDIYman

If you are waiting for the Council to do anything - you'll be waiting. I'm a member of our local Tidy Towns and have a stretch of approach road I have adopted, its one my wife travels to work on daily, so I do a litter pick once a week on this stretch but within days its littered again ( says the missus ) by motorists who think its ok to fling everything out the window and without going into detail I have found everything imaginable but mainly from takeaways.

learn_more

miketheDIYman wrote: »

If you are waiting for the Council to do anything - you'll be waiting. I'm a member of our local Tidy Towns and have a stretch of approach road I have adopted, its one my wife travels to work on daily, so I do a litter pick once a week on this stretch but within days its littered again ( says the missus ) by motorists who think its ok to fling everything out the window and without going into detail I have found everything imaginable but mainly from takeaways.

Well done you mick and the misses. Appropriate username too : ) Sure, it's largely motorists on the N5 and the pontoon road I mentioned in the OP that are the culprits. I can't get over the mentality of ppl who do this. It's like they feel they are entitled to do it cause they have to pay their road tax, their insurance, their fuel etc - waste disposal should come as a free added bonus.

oscarBravo

I can't get my head around how anyone thinks it's OK to throw rubbish out of a car.

mayo.mick

oscarBravo wrote: »

I can't get my head around how anyone thinks it's OK to throw rubbish out of a car.

You would not believe what some people throw from cars, some things which are unmentionable :eek::mad:

yop

mayo.mick wrote: »

You would not believe what some people throw from cars, some things which are unmentionable :eek::mad:

On my road EVERY single Fri and Sat night there is at least 1-3 take away bags dumped out. Ignorant bunch of cnuts. :mad::mad:

krazyklown

Have to say this type of littering crosses all social strands - used to go to matches and fellas would chuck wrappers / empty bottles out the window. It got to the point where when I was driving I asked anyone with rubbish to throw it on my car floor and i would deal with it properly. One buddy of mine couldnt understand what the issue was, used to wind down the window to get a reaction. Embarassed that alot of these guys would have been from the country, growing up on or near farms and I thought would have had an appreciation for the countryside.

For problems like this i really wish there was a bounty program - miniature cameras are so cheap these days - let people who capture footage of illegal dumping/flytipping receive a portion of the fine for any successful prosecutions. I genuinely believe this would really help councils counter act these problems. I lived in Clondalkin for a while and near where i lived there was a short stretch where anything from couches to tvs would be dumped on a road with houses on either side.

Near our farm at home we had a problem with someone dumping into a drain bordering our land. Got a wildlife camera and put it in the field near the spot. It disappeared after a couple of weeks, but the dumping stopped. One interesting clip before it disappeared was that of a hiace pickup driving by and then slowly reversing with the driver having spotted the camera.

TopTec

Ah jease, this is a pet hate of mine.

I walk the lanes and roads within a couple of miles of place with my dogs every day, and I am constantly horrified at the amount of rubbish dumped on the roadside, especially after weekends. I clean up the lane I live on about 700m each way as the only other house on it is empty.

From plastic sacks of soiled nappies dumped in the old cemetery, to the contents of car ashtrays, takeaway containers, bottles and cups thrown into the verges makes me wonder at the mindset of the dirty sods who do this. Lazy farmers who let yards of silage wrap catch in the roadside brambles are a particular problem for me. They can't be arsed to climb out of their comfy cabs to tuck in the trailing tails.

I put out a wildlife cam on one of our local rivers yesterday, following two otters I have spotted. I spent an extra hour peeling off large amounts of silage wrap caught under water and on branches and fertiliser bags wrapped around boulders. Filled 3 of the bags with plastic. Going back down there today to remove dumped carpet underlay, hub caps and plastic bottles and a couple of tyres.

This river eventually empties into the Moy so all this plastic will eventually find its way into the sea. This is off the tourist trail so the litter louts are all locals. The bounty program is a great idea. I would be an early adopter for that!

TT

RMDrive

The first portion of the walk up to the booster station outside Castlebar is (or at least was) a disgrace as well.

There's someone throwing small bags along the road from Cbar to Ballina via Pontoon as well.

irishgeo

Mayo Co co looking for a litter enforcement officer.

TopTec

irishgeo wrote: »

Mayo Co co looking for a litter enforcement officer.

Don't hold out much hope for litter enforcement with this job description....

[FONT=Arial, serif]The successful candidate will be expected to contribute to:[/FONT]

1. [FONT=Arial, serif]securing compliance with the provision of the Waste Management Acts, and any Bye-Laws and Regulations made pursuant thereto;[/FONT]
2. [FONT=Arial, serif]securing compliance with other environmental legislation, including the provisions of the Litter Pollution Act as appropriate;[/FONT]
3. [FONT=Arial, serif]working individually and as part of a team within the County and the Connacht Ulster Waste Region with direction from the Connacht Ulster WERLA (Waste Enforcement Regional Lead Authority);[/FONT]
4. [FONT=Arial, serif]liaising with business interests, community and resident groups, schools and others who can contribute to minimisation of waste and litter;[/FONT]
5. [FONT=Arial, serif]any other duties as shall be assigned to him/her, which may include staff supervisory functions.[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, serif]TT[/FONT]

RMDrive

Sofa dumped between Cbar and Pontoon this morning. :mad:

Westernyelp

Surreptitious wrote:

Jesus I havent heard someone say '5 spot' in years!

RMDrive wrote:

Sofa dumped between Cbar and Pontoon this morning.

Assh*les

Kristopherus

RMDrive wrote: »

Sofa dumped between Cbar and Pontoon this morning. :mad:

Its been there since Sat/Sun.:mad::mad::mad:

nuac

TopTec wrote: »

Don't hold out much hope for litter enforcement with this job description....

[FONT=Arial, serif]The successful candidate will be expected to contribute to:[/FONT]

1. [FONT=Arial, serif]securing compliance with the provision of the Waste Management Acts, and any Bye-Laws and Regulations made pursuant thereto;[/FONT]
2. [FONT=Arial, serif]securing compliance with other environmental legislation, including the provisions of the Litter Pollution Act as appropriate;[/FONT]
3. [FONT=Arial, serif]working individually and as part of a team within the County and the Connacht Ulster Waste Region with direction from the Connacht Ulster WERLA (Waste Enforcement Regional Lead Authority);[/FONT]
4. [FONT=Arial, serif]liaising with business interests, community and resident groups, schools and others who can contribute to minimisation of waste and litter;[/FONT]
5. [FONT=Arial, serif]any other duties as shall be assigned to him/her, which may include staff supervisory functions.[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, serif]TT[/FONT]

Job description should include a requirement to give evidence in court for prosecutions.

Otherwise OK.

I think cameras that can record car reg numbers are part of the answer. registered owner of the car can be prosecuted.

Kristopherus

Kristopherus wrote: »

Its been there since Sat/Sun.:mad::mad::mad:

Gone now, but some other (or maybe the same one) ass***e had dumped half a cabinet in a gateway near Horkans, on the Turlough Rd side.:mad:

nuac

Litter enforcement is tough work.

Often those appointed are temporary.

Good operators should be told that on satisfactory performance they will be made permanent and have prospects of promotion