The trashing of our parks and beaches

iffandonlyif

Yeah_Right wrote: »

More of this needs to happen. Call people out for littering. I've actually made a conscious effort to do it more often. Just loudly call out Hey, put your rubbish in the bin! Never approach them but call them out loudly. Public shaming. They look around and see people looking. Sometimes they tell me to **** off and they walk away. Sometimes they tell me to **** off but they are embarrassed enough to pick their litter up. Occasionally they pick the rubbish up and slink away. I encourage more people to call out litter bugs.

This is exactly right. I'm glad I'm not alone. In my mind, I'm doing it not so that they'll pick it up in the moment, but so that next time they go to litter there will hopefully be a subconscious reluctance. If someone could be sure that every time they littered, they would have someone rebuke them, only the most antisocial in society who revel in rule-breaking would continue. And the more people there are who do it, the more effective it will be. Tut-tutters of Ireland, unite!

Akrasia

Pawwed Rig wrote: »

I lived across form social housing a few years ago. Every day or 2 the council would come along and remove all the rubbish that was thrown everywhere. Talking to some of the residents it was their opinion that it was the council's job and they didnt want to be taking jobs away from others. Strange mentality tbh. They wod leave all sorts of filth outside their front door waiting for the council.

Councils are worse for doing it. One of the many reasons that councils are reluctant to get I to wholesale social housing projects again but that is another conversation.

Instead of taking the rubbish, they should have been leaving fines

Pawwed Rig

Thelonious Monk wrote: »

Yes around Summerhill and North Strand, which consistently comes out as the most littered area in Ireland, the locals just dump bags of rubbish all over the streets or around bins, instead of paying for bin tags, and the council clean it up. You literally have to clean up after these people or they'll live in their own filth, I would probably leave them to stew in it though.

That was the odd part though. It was a small block of apartments and the council had provided communal bins so none of them were paying for rubbish disposal anyway but the place was still a dump.

iffandonlyif

HeidiHeidi wrote: »

The gardai simply can't stay at the one spot all night, there just aren't enough of them for that. Nothing else would get done at all.

That's true to some extent. But the status quo is no Garda presence anywhere. It seems feasible to me to identify seven or eight problem spots and to station a handful of Guards at them, perhaps patrolling between nearby ones.

HeidiHeidi

iffandonlyif wrote: »

That's true to some extent. But the status quo is no Garda presence anywhere. It seems feasible to me to identify seven or eight problem spots and to station a handful of Guards at them, perhaps patrolling between nearby ones.

That's what's happening now. They're spread so thin, everyone just thinks they're not out at all.

AlmightyCushion

Pawwed Rig wrote: »

That was the odd part though. It was a small block of apartments and the council had provided communal bins so none of them were paying for rubbish disposal anyway but the place was still a dump.

I see that in some of the flats near where I live. Why bother bringing it all the way to the communal bins when you can just leave it on the corner and someone from the council will clean it up. That's the attitude some people have. They wouldn't wipe their hole if they thought someone else would do it for them.

Stovepipe

I recall one place that had communal bins, which the users could drop their waste into, via chutes from each floor. Before long, a kid had been caught in the chute as some thugs had jammed him in there. The Council welded the lids on the chutes shut and the users had to go downstairs with their rubbish to reach the bins. Also, the scumbags would drag the bins out and set them on fire so the Council took away the bins and had to introduce bin lorry collection. The bin lorries were attacked so the crews stopped coming in and would only wait out side and try and get the locals to at least drag the bins out to the road. You can't help some people.

AlmightyCushion

iffandonlyif wrote: »

This is exactly right. I'm glad I'm not alone. In my mind, I'm doing it not so that they'll pick it up in the moment, but so that next time they go to litter there will hopefully be a subconscious reluctance. If someone could be sure that every time they littered, they would have someone rebuke them, only the most antisocial in society who revel in rule-breaking would continue. And the more people there are who do it, the more effective it will be. Tut-tutters of Ireland, unite!

I've been doing it a while now and it is surprisingly effective. More than I thought it would be. A lot will pick the stuff up and put it in the bin, even if they do hurl a bit of abuse your way while doing it.

I find people throwing cigarette butts on the ground are incredibly unlikely to pick it up though. For some reason, cigarette butts aren't really considered litter to a lot of people. I know people who wouldn't litter at all and would hold on to a piece of rubbish for ages until the got to a bin instead of littering. They'll still throw a cigarette butt on the ground even if there is a bin nearby though.

Pawwed Rig

AlmightyCushion wrote: »

I've been doing it a while now and it is surprisingly effective. More than I thought it would be. A lot will pick the stuff up and put it in the bin, even if they do hurl a bit of abuse your way while doing it.

I find people throwing cigarette butts on the ground are incredibly unlikely to pick it up though. For some reason, cigarette butts aren't really considered litter to a lot of people. I know people who wouldn't litter at all and would hold on to a piece of rubbish for ages until the got to a bin instead of littering. They'll still throw a cigarette butt on the ground even if there is a bin nearby though.

At least they might think twice next time if they think someone will challenge them on it.

PhilOssophy

I drove through a good bit of this part of the city last weekend. It is fair to say that our "outdoor summer" is not going to be good. People were standing around everywhere, drinking cans, urinating, boom boxes. Every little patch of grass seemed to be either packed with people, or was absolutely destroyed with cans/bottles/fast food boxes and packaging.

When I walked along the canal on a recently fine Sunday morning, the stench of urine was disgusting. And poor fish have to swim in this.

People can blame the government, city council, whoever, all they want. It is their own personal scummy behaviour which is the problem.

I don't know what the answer is. Surely recycling and being a good citizen are things young children know about. It is a pity the only way is to hit the pocket with charges for cans, taxes on packaging, etc - because as always, this is just letting people pay to make the problem go away.

Maybe we just need to accept people are scumbags.

spring lane jack

HeidiHeidi wrote: »

That's what's happening now. They're spread so thin, everyone just thinks they're not out at all.

But seven of 'em can turn up at a disabled man's house to steal/seize his two Cannabis plants.

AlmightyCushion

PhilOssophy wrote: »

I drove through a good bit of this part of the city last weekend. It is fair to say that our "outdoor summer" is not going to be good. People were standing around everywhere, drinking cans, urinating, boom boxes. Every little patch of grass seemed to be either packed with people, or was absolutely destroyed with cans/bottles/fast food boxes and packaging.

When I walked along the canal on a recently fine Sunday morning, the stench of urine was disgusting. And poor fish have to swim in this.

People can blame the government, city council, whoever, all they want. It is their own personal scummy behaviour which is the problem.

I don't know what the answer is. Surely recycling and being a good citizen are things young children know about. It is a pity the only way is to hit the pocket with charges for cans, taxes on packaging, etc - because as always, this is just letting people pay to make the problem go away.

Maybe we just need to accept people are scumbags.

The pissing thing I find more forgivable than littering. If you have to go and there are no toilets nearby, what can you do? There is only so long you can hold it in. Obviously people should be trying to find somewhere secluded and out of the way but other than that there is not much else they can do. Whereas with littering that excuse isn't good enough because you should and can bring it home with you once you are done.

Tell me how

Biker79 wrote: »

There's this weird entitlement to leave rubbish wherever you please, and expect the council and clean it up.

Hopefully closing off Portobello will send a signal to litterbugs/ drunks that its unacceptable.

It absolutely will not.
They'll think it's something to do with Covid and social distancing, or because of some nonsense about public order or whatever.

Anyone who is beyond an age where they are under the direct control of their parent and still needs to be told that they should be responsible for their own litter in a place where discarding it appropriately is not an option will not pick up on sublte hints or a post on a twitter account that they do not follow and probably will never see.

PhilOssophy

AlmightyCushion wrote: »

The pissing thing I find more forgivable than littering. If you have to go and there are no toilets nearby, what can you do? There is only so long you can hold it in. Obviously people should be trying to find somewhere secluded and out of the way but other than that there is not much else they can do. Whereas with littering that excuse isn't good enough because you should and can bring it home with you once you are done.

I get your point but then again, there's always a chip shop open somewhere near Portobello with a toilet.

If I lived in Portobello, I would be fuming about every gobsheen coming in, drinking all evening and using my front door or street as a urinal before heading off home.

I'd also be willing to bet if we put in public toilets and charged 20c to use them, lads would still pss in a side street.

iffandonlyif

AlmightyCushion wrote: »

The pissing thing I find more forgivable than littering. If you have to go and there are no toilets nearby, what can you do? There is only so long you can hold it in. Obviously people should be trying to find somewhere secluded and out of the way but other than that there is not much else they can do. Whereas with littering that excuse isn't good enough because you should and can bring it home with you once you are done.

Things may well be different with the lockdown, but I don't remember the last time I was caught short. No one suddenly has to go; it comes on gradually and is exacerbated by drinking. A responsible adult should have made preparations.

As for where they do the deed, I saw a picture of a queue for a bush in Stephen's Green a few weeks ago. The bush was right by the main diagonal path. If these were decent people who had merely been caught short, they would have found somewhere secluded on the periphery.

AlmightyCushion

Are places allowing people to use their toilets with Covid? Before Covid you could always nip into a pub or something like that but not a lot of places are even open now and if they are they aren't letting the public use their bathrooms since Covid.

Am sitting in Bram Stoker Park (Fairview) where there is a big belly bin in the middle of the park which is no more than 100m from all corners of the park. There is litter all around the park. I now realise there are just some awfully lazy and uncivil people in this country, who can't be bothered walking 15 seconds to a bin to dump their rubbish. Shame.

Thelonious Monk

downtheroad wrote: »

Am sitting in Bram Stoker Park (Fairview) where there is a big belly bin in the middle of the park which is no more than 100m from all corners of the park. There is litter all around the park. I now realise there are just some awfully lazy and uncivil people in this country, who can't be bothered walking 15 seconds to a bin to dump their rubbish. Shame.

Yeah, I used to live on Marino Crescent, the bushes along the railings were always like a dumping ground, such a beautiful street and park but it's ruined by rubbish.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CPQbq58H-J3/?hl=en

Elmo

I agree that there needs to be more public toilets. I agree that their needs to be more bins and that we should have more cleaners around our towns and cities.

However, I don't see a problem with telling people if they cann't find a bin or if a bin is full, to bring their rubbish home with themselves.

Obviously toilets are another issue.

Local and national government have had plenty of time to put in place even the bare minimum of facilities. Particularly over the last year and a half.

PhilOssophy

Elmo wrote: »

I agree that there needs to be more public toilets. I agree that their needs to be more bins and that we should have more cleaners around our towns and cities.

However, I don't see a problem with telling people if they cann't find a bin or if a bin is full, to bring their rubbish home with themselves.

Obviously toilets are another issue.

Local and national government have had plenty of time to put in place even the bare minimum of facilities. Particularly over the last year and a half.

Agree with everything but the very last line - I think if the council had shovel ready plans over the last year, very few builders would have committed to doing the project, with the uncertainty in the industry.

tom1ie

Lemsiper wrote: »

Little unfair to say the human race is dirty and filthy.

No it’s not. We are a filthy race.
As pointed out by agent smith:

"Human Beings Are A Disease, A Cancer Of This Planet. You're A Plague, And We Are The Cure."

Tell me how

tom1ie wrote: »

No it’s not. We are a filthy race.
As pointed out by agent smith:

"Human Beings Are A Disease, A Cancer Of This Planet. You're A Plague, And We Are The Cure."

George Carlin 'The planet will be fine, humans are fcuked.'

Elmo

PhilOssophy wrote: »

Agree with everything but the very last line - I think if the council had shovel ready plans over the last year, very few builders would have committed to doing the project, with the uncertainty in the industry.

To me it seemed as if builders have strict plans that include a full set of workers and staff. Rather then reducing number and saying that the due to the limitations placed on them the projects would take longer than expected.

I am saying slowly some local governments could have had plans for new public toilets.

In fairness not being a builder, I don't know. and also I did say bare minimum (I should have said bare minimum extra).

This is only for public toilets. Bins could easily have been provided but again .... if full bring them home.

https://mobile.twitter.com/galway_together/status/1401820796557873154

PhilOssophy

Kenya Crooked Tarp wrote: »

https://mobile.twitter.com/galway_together/status/1401820796557873154

Imagine being such a scumbag to think that is OK. Irish people are just scumbags, and the supposedly better educated generation below us aren't one bit better.

PhilOssophy

PhilOssophy wrote: »

Imagine being such a scumbag to think that is OK. Irish people are just scumbags, and the supposedly better educated generation below us aren't one bit better.

(Imagine typing Nigerians are scumbags...)


The Irish aren't scumbags. There are Irish scumbags though.
Every group has a cohort of scumbags. I think the problem is society effectively let scum bags get away with it. A proverbial slap on the wrist if they're caught.

I'm for bringing back the gibbet for things like this.

whisky_galore

Can't impose fines because, scumbags.

https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/munster/arid-40313669.html

Cork County Council chief executive Tim Lucey has said he is not willing to put his personnel at risk by asking them to issue litter fines to groups of youths who are regularly dumping waste at public parks and beaches.

Mr Lucey made the comments after a number of county councillors expressed concern about illegal dumping at beauty spots and amenity areas.

Pawwed Rig

There you have it. There is no appetite for enforcement of any kind in this country

iamwhoiam

PhilOssophy wrote: »

Imagine being such a scumbag to think that is OK. Irish people are just scumbags, and the supposedly better educated generation below us aren't one bit better.

I beg your pardon . I am Irish as are all my family and friends and we are not scumbags .