Recently, in almost every Irish newspaper I could read about problem of water contamination, illegal dumping of litter, and the issue of keeping Ireland tidy.
The most troubling news are concerning water contamination in Galway, and polluted waters of Lough Corrib that is a water supply for Galway. The picture that stroke me the most was a photo of dumped household wastes in the river Suileen which is linked with a main drinking water resource. A river full of black rubbish bags, Coca-Cola and Lucozade empty bottles and many other rubbish and waste produced by a consumption.
I think it would be an excellent black PR for those companies to see big billboards with the photos of dumped wastes in a water supplies. Always Coca-Cola? or maybe always e-Coli, a microbe related to the human and animal sewage, that could be find in almost every water tap in Galway and Kerry?
In the local Carlow newspaper (The Nationalist) I found a terrifying article about rotting carcasses of fox, chickens and other animals dumped in the cardboard boxes just on the edge of the road close to the estate.
Carlow Town Council is deliberating on cutting all of the trees and bush around the Liberty Tree fountain, which is central part of the town, due to the large amount of waste, they are also thinking about setting up CCTV cameras in the most often littered parts of the town.
Year ago, I found bottom of the Barrow river full of dumped wastes, Tesco’s troleys etc.
What is going on? Is this an effect of consuming style of life, a kind of hedonism which sneaks into the Irish life? Is Ireland becoming dirty and polluted country? It seems that the run for earning more money, and having more goods, better and faster cars, especially fancy jeeps and pickups (with the higher level of CO2 emission) made some Irish people completely insensitive on environmental issues.
To prevent any comments in a way “go back home”: I don’t claim that Poland is clean, but I can see rising level of environmental awareness over there.
People of Ireland, where do you go from here?
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