Time for Greens to see red on rubbish

AMONGST roadside swathes of celandine lies a bag of suppurating household rubbish.

The bag has been torn open. Baby’s nappies, tin cans, plastic packaging, vegetable waste and pieces of newspaper spill out onto the cushion of dark green, heart-shaped leaves and the small, golden flowers, harbingers of spring, shining in the sun. Who could have committed this outrage is unknown, but they live amongst us.

They threw it there in the night – presumably – from the window of a car. Under the cover of darkness they did their foul deed, committed this desecration.

The eyes, the minds, the very souls of these people must be different from ours. Clearly, they are blind to beauty and unthinking of the damage they are doing. Clearly, they have no conscience, no morality, no care for anything but to rid themselves of the rubbish they have generated. They are thieves in the night, stealing the beauty of nature away.

The fly-tippers bag of garbage lies on the verge until it is struck by another vehicle, or torn open by animal. Then, its contents are dispersed in a hundred-yard drift of rotting detritus edging our much-vaunted ‘scenic’ roads.

Here, in west Cork, I see this happen again and again. I have photographed it. The citizens of other European countries would be incredulous if they saw my pictures. If I told them it was an everyday sight – not the result of some exceptional incident, such as a bin-lorry casting its load – they would be appalled. But it isn’t just the fly-tipper – the casual dispenser of single items of garbage from cars is also to blame.

I hate to say it, but I fear we are the filthiest nation in Europe. If anyone doubts me, let them count the number of discarded items per yard of roadside on any half-busy road in Ireland. Or let them go to one of our glorious resort beaches after a summer weekend. The amount of garbage left behind by fun-loving, day-tripping, seaside-enjoying families beggars belief. One must assume their children notice ‘the leavings’ and think this behaviour acceptable as they head for the car.

I am aware that only a small number of our population is responsible for fly-tipping, those who refuse to pay collection charges or take their rubbish to recycling centres where they would also have to pay – albeit less. Judged by the number of one-off discards to be seen on the verges, a much larger percentage is responsible for casual littering.

Meanwhile, a significant proportion of beach-goers think it is not unreasonable to leave dirty nappies, used barbecue trays, cans, bottles, and the bags and boxes in which they carried them, on the very sands which were pristine when they arrived and which they have driven miles to enjoy. Would it be fair to say that 20% of the Irish dump litter or leave it behind them wherever they go? I assume readers of this page do not belong to or empathise with this group. We would like to stop this abuse of our landscape. So what can we do?

In the latest issue of that impressive magazine, Walking World Ireland, its editor Conor O’Hagan, addresses an open letter to Environment Minister John Gormley. In it, he points out that “the litter on every roadside, lane and bohreen in Ireland is the worst possible reflection of our national character. It has nothing to do with global crisis or market conditions: it reflects us, the Irish. At school, our children are bombarded with Green doctrines of emissions control, conservation and recycling. Yet, they witness litter pollution every day of their lives without ever seeing a roadside cleared. We have monitoring bodies, reports, websites and legislation. We have fines and signs. What we don’t have is litter being removed. Any of it.”

He ends by saying “Please tell me (Mr Gormley) that this issue is on your radar, that it is seen for what it is: a national issue. Please don’t leave it in the ambit of the county councils, who have demonstrated, in the clearest way possible, that they have neither the means nor ambition to tackle the problem. I look to you for leadership. If not the Green Party, then who?”

I support Mr O’Hagan’s sentiments. I would respectfully ask Mr Gormley if finding a solution to littering is beyond the ability of his department then what is his department for?