Model waste management: A hotel in Co Cork which reduced the waste sent to landfill by 50 per cent in less than a year; a bookshop in Dún Laoghaire, Co Dublin, which reduced waste sent to landfill by 90 per cent, and a supermarket in Clonskeagh, Dublin which reduced its waste charges by two-thirds in less than two years.
These businesses are all cited as models of good practice in a new booklet, Small Change - small steps to manage business waste, just published by the Department of the Environment and Chambers of Commerce Ireland. Over the next few months, regional chambers of commerce will host seminars on waste management, offering advice on how to segregate waste at source, assign a waste co-ordinator and develop a company waste action plan. The emphasis is on reducing company costs, and running a more efficient office while also improving the environment. See www.chambersireland.ie for details. See also www.raceagainstwaste.com for more details of how your business can reduce, reuse and recycle.
Celebrating trees
National Tree Week begins tomorrow with ceremonial tree planting events, talks and walks around the country. Now in its 20th year, the main focus of this annual celebration of trees is the planting of more than 15,000 trees by local authorities and community groups. Events include a woodlands workshop for children on Saturday next from 11a.m. to 1 p.m. and a woodland walk with tree identification on Sunday, March 14th at 2 p.m. both at the National Environmental Education Centre, Knocksink Wood, Enniskerry, Co. Wicklow; a woodland ecology walk tomorrow at 2 p.m. in Glendalough (meeting in the Upper Lake carpark), Co Wicklow and a lecture by Thomas Packenham, author of Meeting with Remarkable Trees in the RDS, Dublin on Thursday at 8 p.m. Free events guides available from Coillte offices and O2 outlets.
Making garden compost
Recycling glass, paper and plastic is the easy part of reducing household waste but setting up your own compost heap takes a little more courage and expertise. The Irish Peatland Conservation Council in association with local authorities are giving composting and wildlife gardening workshops around the country in March and April. Learn how to recycle organic kitchen and garden waste to make garden compost. Workshops go ahead in Counties Westmeath, Clare, Tipperary, Mayo, Sligo, Kildare, Offaly and Cork. Full details on Tel: 01-8722397 or e-mail bogs@ipcc.ie.
New national park
A plan to designate the land along the River Liffey from Islandbridge, Dublin, to Straffan, Co Kildare, as a national park will be unveiled today at a conference in the Spa Hotel, Lucan, Co Dublin. The proposals are being put forward by the Liffey Valley Park Alliance (LVPA), a group which includes members of An Taisce, the Irish Georgian Society, the Irish Wildlife Trust and community organisations from Dublin and Kildare. The idea is modelled on the Lagan Valley Regional Park, which extends from Belfast to Lisburn in Northern Ireland.
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