Litter dumped along the train tracks

[amh]

Has anyone else noticed the extent of the amount of rubbish that is dumped along the train lines in and out of Dublin?

To me it's an eye sore and one which I feel gives the commuters and tourists a like a very poor image of our capital.

Surely this rubbish could be collected and those responsible for dumping it made responsible for it. There are bags of rubbish which might contain addresses etc. and there are also places where it would be impossible for anyone to dump rubbish except for those living directly behind the tracks. I know that trains make noises at sometimes annoying times (I live within a stones throw of the tracks too) but thats no reason to throw rubbish at them.

It is really annoying that rubbish can be thrown out like this, in full public view and then be left there to 'rot' away. Beds, helmets, toys, bags, mattresses you name it it can be found in the landfill site that stretches from Cherry Orchard thro to Heuston Station. It's HORRID.

 

[horusd]

Agreed. Same happens along the East Wall part of the Dart. Loads of bags chucked over the fence. Awful looking. I'm do a bit of volunteering with the Bull Island Clean up Group.* It makes me heartsick to see such a lovely place destroyed by litter. Particularly plastic bottles and cans. Walkers and runners with waterbottles are big culprits. But people come down to the beach to dump household rubbish and save on the charges. I pulled a kids bike,gas bottles, garden chairs, a suitcase and a buggie out last week.

Drivers also chuck cans and sandwich wrappers.chip bags etc. Some drivers clean their cars on the beach road and chuck their wipes onto the road.

* Anyone who wants to help (and we need more people!), come down the wooden bridge (Clontarf Road) to the public toilet every third Sat. of the month at 11am. We work for two hours, bags, litter pickers and gloves are provided.

 

[Sunny]

Not just railtracks. Anyone seen the state of the M1 recently for example. There are some disgusting pigs that live amoung us.

 

[horusd]

There are three things about the problem of litter that need to be dealt with:

1. Educate about the importance of the enviornment.

2. Very pro-active prosecutions of litterers. ( privatise this?).

3. Getting people to volunteer and not just say it's the councils job. Not all litter is deliberate, and with little money available, the council may not be able to do it. The amount of people who stop me when I'm volunteering, give-out about the problem, yet walk past litter without picking it up and putting it in the bin completely baffles me. We can and should take personal responsibility and empower ourselves. There is a great sense of satisfaction from just getting down and doing something. Volunteer! You can make a difference.

 

[michaelm]

Rather than an on-the-spot fine for littering (up to €150 methinks), offenders should have to do 2 or 3 hours as part of a litter clean-up detail. I'm of the opinion that it's smokers and the children of smokers who do the vast majority of littering (but I'm not saying all smokers are litterers).

 

[truthseeker]

I'm of the opinion that it's smokers and the children of smokers who do the vast majority of littering (but I'm not saying all smokers are litterers).

Thats a bit of a generalisation. The vast majority of littering I see are sweet wrappers, drinks containers, chewing gum - Im not clear how this is connected to smoking?

 

[michaelm]

Thats a bit of a generalisation. The vast majority of littering I see are sweet wrappers, drinks containers, chewing gum - Im not clear how this is connected to smoking?

Generalisation is my speciality. Apparently over 50% of litter in Ireland is cigarette litter. On that basis it would be fair to say that smokers cause the majority of littering. If one has the mentality to litter then it's not a quantum leap to suggest that one might also litter non-smoking related items. The children of these litterers are hardly going to be instilled with a non-litter mentality either. Also, it's just my opinion.

 

[truthseeker]

I could only find a publication on litter stats from 2006. Sweet papers and fast food wrappers are both higher on the list than cigarette butts.

So from that I will generalise that sweetie eaters and fast food eaters are causing the majority of litter, and Ill then quantum leap that onto these litterers passing their littering mentality onto their children - whether theyre smokers or not.

 

[amh]

Rather than an on-the-spot fine for littering (up to €150 methinks), offenders should have to do 2 or 3 hours as part of a litter clean-up detail. I'm of the opinion that it's smokers and the children of smokers who do the vast majority of littering (but I'm not saying all smokers are litterers).

A great simple idea!

 

[michaelm]

I could only find a publication on litter stats from 2006. Sweet papers and fast food wrappers are both higher on the list than cigarette butts.

That refers to % of sites where any of said litter is present, which is not particularly relevant. This is more recent although it has cigarette litter, if top, at only 46%. Despite this being LOS it wasn't my intention to drag this thread off-course; Good job I didn't go into my Unified Theory of Smoking, Littering, Obesity and Idiocy .

 

[truthseeker]

Good job I didn't go into my Unified Theory of Smoking, Littering, Obesity and Idiocy .

Please do

Any littering is disgusting, and I do agree that cigarette littering is hugely prevalent - what those stats seem to show is number of items, which would certainly account for cigarette littering to count so high - although they would be very small items. I suppose it depends on how it is viewed, there could be 8 large messy sweet wrappers/fast food containers really making somewhere look awful, but 9 cigarette butts squashed in a corner (while equally disgusting) wont destroy the look of the place to the same degree. But none of it is acceptable.

 

[nai]

I strongly advocate reporting the littering as soon as possible in any case and something may be done about it.

Below is an email trail from myself to Fingal Co Co - read from bottom up and note the times - this is positive action from Fingal Co Co at it's best I would say.



from ****************@fingalcoco.ie>
to ********************
date Thu, Sep 23, 2010 at 11:51 AM
subject RE: illegal dumping
show details 9/23/10
Thanks Ian, Officers have gone through most bags and have gathered enough evidence to proceed with further action. That material will now be removed by the local authority and disposed of properly.

Again thank you for your interest in this matter.

Regards,

*********************


From: ***********************
Sent: 23 September 2010 09:46
To: ***********************
Subject: Re: illegal dumping

*********************,
It's very comforting to know that you take these reports seriously and follow up on them. I hope you are able to find something that could possibly lead to a fine/conviction.
Best Regards,
*****************

On Thu, Sep 23, 2010 at 9:37 AM, ********@fingalcoco.ie wrote:
Dear ************,

Thank you for the information. Waste Enforcement Officers from the Environment Department of Fingal County Council have visited the site on Wednesday afternoon to investigate.

Yours sincerely,

*********************
Enforcement Section,
Fingal County Council,
Fingal County Hall,
Main Street,
Swords,
Fingal,
Co. Dublin
www.fingalcoco.ie




-----Original Message-----
From: *************************
Sent: 21 September 2010 22:35
To: Environmental Services
Subject: Litter report

Hi.

I spotted a number of black bin bags at side of road at intervals of perhaps 50-100 yards from airport side of st margarets pitch towards new park nursing home at ward cross.

It was about 10.20 pm when I passed that way and I spotted about 15 black bags.

Thanks and regards.
********************

 

[DB74]

I wonder if recycling facilities were free would money be saved in the overall scheme of things.

If people had somewhere to put their large rubbish (mattresses / white goods etc)then they would be more inclined to bring it there rather than just dump it on the side of the road.

I had to get rid of a bed and I brought it up to Coolmine Recycling Centre. Cost me €16 to bring it in to the centre. How much does it cost for the Co Co to remove a mattress and/or bed from the side of the road.