A chara, - There has been much talk about incinerators and superdumps. Most people who live in the areas where these are to be sited are up in arms, campaigning against them. And rightly so. The question was put on RTE's Morning Ireland whether people in Galway, without the incinerator, would have to have three bins, and it was acknowledged that it was likely. This shouldn't be a problem because on a typical bin morning in Dublin, many houses have up to six big black bags full of "rubbish", waiting to be collected.
The answer is not incinerators and superdumps. A more realistic solution is the three Rs: reduce, re-use, recycle - in that order, not to mention composting where appropriate.
If we reduce what we use, reuse what we have used and recycle what we can't re-use, the question of incinerators and superdumps becomes superfluous. Of course it means a change of mindset. We need to approach our supermarkets and manufacturers and tell them we are not happy with buying a plastic sealed container in a cardboard box wrapped again in plastic, or three garlic bulbs in a box "for convenience".
Everyone of us contributes to the rubbish problem, every one of us can help sort it out. I'm looking forward to seeing those communities most under threat from the rubbish industry leading the way in reducing, re-using and recycling, - Is mise,
Gavin O Se, Dun Droma, Baile Atha Cliath 16.