Countryside littering.

CaptainInsano · 18-12-2015 07:18AM #1

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 · 18-12-2015 07:52AM

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 · 18-12-2015 07:58AM

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 · 18-12-2015 08:03AM

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 · 18-12-2015 08:57AM

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 · 18-12-2015 09:00AM

CaptainInsano wrote: »

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

MOD-Banned

kneemos · 18-12-2015 09:05AM

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 · 18-12-2015 09:08AM

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 · 18-12-2015 09:31AM

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 · 18-12-2015 09:43AM

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 · 18-12-2015 09:49AM

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 · 18-12-2015 09:53AM

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 · 18-12-2015 09:57AM

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 · 18-12-2015 10:01AM

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 · 18-12-2015 10:05AM

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 · 18-12-2015 11:00AM

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 · 18-12-2015 11:20AM

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 · 18-12-2015 11:28AM

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 · 18-12-2015 11:32AM

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 · 18-12-2015 11:33AM

They should all be shot OP.

We need you to do the shooting though.

syklops · 18-12-2015 11:34AM

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 · 18-12-2015 11:43AM

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 · 18-12-2015 11:46AM

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 · 18-12-2015 11:46AM

I propose the magnetisation of all packaging

gramar · 18-12-2015 11:51AM

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 · 18-12-2015 11:56AM

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 · 18-12-2015 11:57AM

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 · 18-12-2015 12:12PM

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 · 18-12-2015 12:17PM

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 · 18-12-2015 12:22PM

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 · 18-12-2015 12:23PM

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.

Countryside littering.

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