Madam, – The litter situation is severe and getting worse.
A substantial amount of the litter is made up of discarded plastic drinks bottles. Why not introduce a combined tax/ refundable deposit scheme? A bottle carrying a €1 environmental levy could facilitate a 50 cent refund to anyone returning the bottle to a point of purchase. The remaining 50 cent could be divided between the store, to cover the costs of managing the refund and the council for providing appropriate recovery and recycling facilities.
The refund incentive could be a valuable strategy in encouraging the collection of discarded bottles and better disposal habits. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – Andy Jones of Co Cavan (April 12th) comments on the litter along the roadsides in his part of the world and poses the rhetorical question “what kind of people are we?”
We have the same situation in Wicklow. Plastic bottles, cigarette packs, beer cans, polystyrene food containers and confectionery wrappers are all chucked out of passing cars; only a few eccentrics walk the roads these days.
I have taken to bringing a large plastic bag with me on my walks and use it to gather up other people’s litter. So I feel qualified to answer his question: the people in question are car occupants who do not think of taking their litter home. When you think of it, this would involve less effort than chucking it out the window of the vehicle.
“Garden of Ireland” how are ye; more like “Rubbish tip of Ireland”. – Yours, etc,