Sir, – I really enjoyed Rosita Boland's article "The more beautiful the part of Ireland, the filthier it is" (Life, August 18th). It's always good to have a little humour when dealing with a very serious subject.
It would be useful if we could compare the income from non-commercial domestic waste brought to landfill against the cost of litter (including fly-tipping) clean-ups. I suggest that the charges may be a serious factor in this rubbish debate. I’m old enough to remember that some local authorities actually incentivised the “bring” element with little rewards instead of charges.
Certainly Rosita Boland is correct – we urgently need to examine our social psychology and attempt to address our rubbish thinking. – Yours, etc,
DAVID PRENDERGAST,
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Cork.
Sir, – Rosita Boland’s recent articles on litter and Ballybunion struck a chord with me.
Blatant breaches of littering laws go uncorrected and unpunished across the country. Our country roads are covered with fast-food waste, coffee cups and discarded masks, in addition to off-loaded black bags of rubbish. I have witnessed people dumping fast-food waste in carparks with bins in plain sight and becoming aggressive if reprimanded in any way.
Are we as a society accepting of this antisocial behaviour as the norm or do we set a standard as per other European countries where societal pressure and good practice become the norm? What is required of our society to help misguided litterers to understand that it is not someone else’s job to pick up their leftovers? How do we reinforce and drive this back into the school curriculum and to society as whole?
Enforcement and passive acceptance do not appear to be doing the job. – Yours, etc,
KEN MURPHY,
Cork.
Sir, – They think it’s all over! Today, while out on my daily cycle ride, I counted nine discarded Covid masks in Killarney National Park. – Yours, etc,
NICKY BARRY,
Killarney, Co Kerry.