THIRTY per cent of food purchased by households in Ireland is wasted, so we need new methods of its disposal.

EXPERTS tell us Ireland has the best ocean wind and wave power in Europe, so why then are developers pressing ahead with controversial wind farms on land? A mindset objecting to turbines and overland pylons — similar to the public mood opposing dumps in the past — is growing, with communities up in arms around the country.

A RIVER flowing through a town should, you might expect, be seen as an advantage — not only for its beauty and environmental value, but also for very practical reasons.

IT’S the time of year when the rhododendron blooms, standing out from most other plants in all its deep red, purple and cerise splendour. The rhodo looks magnificent and little wonder that it get a mention in romantic songs. However, the wild rhodo is in a category of plants with a bad name: “invasive species’’ that were brought into the country.

THE whine of the chainsaw can still be heard in the countryside as people continue to cut up trees laid low by Storm Darwin more than two months ago. You might say the ferocious storm had a sort of silver lining in that the fallen trees will result in more use of renewable fuel.

That estimable survivor of the showband era, Big Tom McBride from Co Monaghan, once had a hit about an old-fashioned Irish mother “in the fields where the wildflowers grow’’.

YOU might, quite understandably, think the litter situation is bad here. But, just consider how much worse it would be only for the genuine efforts of the large and widely dispersed army of volunteers that picks up other people’s rubbish.

It might be said that fish and water-attracted birds are about the only wildlife that relish flood conditions.

PEOPLE can often be better informed about global environmental issues than what is happening on their doorsteps.

FOR all the ballyhoo surrounding St Patrick’s Day, the tradition of sporting a sprig of shamrock has faded in recent years, despite the fact that it can be bought packaged in many shops. Even the use of a little lapel sachet that keeps the plant fresh throughout the day is making little difference to the wearing of it.