Oil drums, barrels, medicine bottles, syringes, nappies, electrical equipment, fertiliser sacks ... these are just some of the items Mr Jack Hamilton has taken from the river Nore near his home in Freshford, Co Kilkenny.
"You would not believe what people dump in the river. I do not want to be a moaner or be unkind to people but somebody has to take a stand and make the public aware of what is happening," he said.
Goods dumped upriver accumulate at Inchbeg, the townland near Freshford where Mr Hamilton and his wife, Kathie, have created a wildlife sanctuary and duck pond since they returned to his home from England in 1995.
He also runs a fishing school there for local youngsters.
Mr Hamilton said he had invested £37,000 to date in creating the sanctuary and providing facilities for the fishing school.
What he had not bargained for, however, was so much time spent in the river removing sacks of rubbish.
"People fill the fertiliser sacks with rubbish, and I am not blaming farmers because anyone can get these bags, and they sling them over the bridges into the river. And when you lift the bags out of the river they break up and all the rubbish falls into the river."
Sporadic pollution is also a problem and why, Mr Hamilton said, that there have been no crayfish locally this year. In addition, freshwater pearl mussel shells taken from the river have been empty.
There were "a few" salmon last year but he has not seen one this year.
"It used to be a brilliant salmon river," he said.
Kilkenny County Council, he said, could do more to discourage offenders. "I think the council should put a plaque on every bridge outlining the penalties, as a deterrent.
"When the flood comes it brings all the rubbish down and it gets caught in the branches and tree trunks in this area."
Ultimately, however, he said it's the attitude of those who treat the river as a dump that is the problem.
A spokesman for Kilkenny County Council said "the full rigour of the law" would be applied in the case of anyone found dumping refuse in the river.
The council took Mr Hamilton's concerns seriously and had sent a litter warden to meet him and inspect the river on a number of occasions.
Any information it received concerning illegal dumping would be acted upon.
Readers who wish to contact this column can leave messages by dialling (01) 6707711 extension 6298. Chris Dooley's email address is cdooley@irish-times.ie