The
April clean-up by the Conservation Volunteers of the Terryland Forest Park in Galway city has exposed once again the
wanton destruction being done to the Irish countryside and waterways by
the high level of dumping of cans and bottles by outdoor drinkers.
There is a growing problem within Irish society due to binge drinking,
particularly by young people which eventually has to be faced up to.
This phenomena has escalated in the last two decade as a result of the easy access and availability of cheap alcohol.
In the interim, the problem of resulting litter can be tackled head-on
by the introduction of a refundable charge on cans and bottles,
something which the 'Friends of Galway Forests' NGO had campaigned on
for years. (Click here)
We failed to convince the last Environment Minister and Green Party leader John
Gormley to implement such an initiative. But we secured the agreement of
Galway City Council last July, thanks to the support of Councillor Catherine Connolly, to introduce a pay-back scheme for cans.
Click here to read about this positive move by city council.
It is time now to re-activate the lobbying of government if we are to
save our precious lakes, forests and rivers from disappearing under a
layer of plastic and glass.
But in the short term, should we not
organise a public 'Cash For Can Day' in June where we organise a huge
mass clean-up and bring all the cans to the council recycling plant and
use the monies collected to invest in trees for plantings in our civic
parks and woodlands?
Finally, thanks to the volunteers who turned up on Saturday. Appreciated.
In the interim, the problem of resulting litter can be tackled head-on by the introduction of a refundable charge on cans and bottles, something which the 'Friends of Galway Forests' NGO had campaigned on for years. (Click here)
We failed to convince the last Environment Minister and Green Party leader John Gormley to implement such an initiative. But we secured the agreement of Galway City Council last July, thanks to the support of Councillor Catherine Connolly, to introduce a pay-back scheme for cans.
Click here to read about this positive move by city council.
It is time now to re-activate the lobbying of government if we are to save our precious lakes, forests and rivers from disappearing under a layer of plastic and glass.
But in the short term, should we not organise a public 'Cash For Can Day' in June where we organise a huge mass clean-up and bring all the cans to the council recycling plant and use the monies collected to invest in trees for plantings in our civic parks and woodlands?
Finally, thanks to the volunteers who turned up on Saturday. Appreciated.
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