A HOST OF GOLDEN DAFFODILS
This week a passing motorist very kindly gave one of our Volunteers thirteen bags of daffodil bulbs. What a lovely surprise. Each bag contained around fifteen bulbs.
These have now been planted in the Planters on the Railings at the Western side of Ballincollig. Keep an eye out for the lovely display of colour in the coming months.
ACT OF KINDNESS
Ballincollig Tidy Towns is a recognized charity with the Community Foundation for Ireland and this allows all donations be officially processed with full traceability.
As with many other charities, Ballincollig Tidy Towns has suffered enormously this year because of the Coronavirus, especially with regard to donations. This is quite understandable as many of those we rely on have themselves been forced to close their doors over the past nine months. Our annual Church Gate Collection was also cancelled. This has left our funds depleted quite considerably.
Despite these difficult times, our Vice Chairman, recently received an extremely generous donation from someone who wishes to remain anonymous.
This will help us enormously and we are all extremely grateful.
“THANK YOU” two little words that come from the hearts of all who are involved in Ballincollig Tidy Towns.
DEPOSIT RETURN SCHEME
This week the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications, Eamon Ryan TD has invited the public to give their views on the design of a Deposit Return Scheme for plastic bottles and aluminium cans.
The Programme for Government – Our Shared Future – and the Waste Action Plan for a Circular Economy set out the government’s commitment to introduce a Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) for plastic bottles (up to three litres in volume) and aluminium cans.
The newly published public consultation suggests a deposit of 20 cent per container, with submissions invited from the public and stakeholders on the design of the Scheme. The primary function of a DRS is to increase recycling rates and support the circular economy by keeping materials in productive use and reducing demand for new materials. It has also been shown to assist in the reduction of littering of beverage containers.
Deposit Return Schemes have been around for decades and were originally designed by the beverage industry as a way of ensuring the return of bottles so they could be washed, refilled and resold.
Some people will remember this as a system that was previously used to ensure glass milk bottles and soft-drink bottles were returned for reuse. In a DRS a refundable deposit is applied to beverage containers to incentivise consumers to return their beverage containers for recycling or reuse.
Speaking at the publication, Minister Ryan said:
“If we are to get the benefits of a circular economy, we need to adapt our approach to how we use and manage our resources. We must strive to keep resources in circulation for as long as possible and the introduction of a DRS is a first step in this, as we need to collect and recycle more plastic bottles and aluminium cans. It will also help to reduce litter and will ensure that we meet the EU targets which are coming down the tracks. This consultation paper is the first step in this process and I hope that interested stakeholders and members of the public take the time to consider the issues around DRS and support its introduction.”
LITTER PICK
Last Sunday twenty-four Volunteers gathered at Quish’s SuperValu car park for the weekly Litter Pick. They were joined by eighteen Transition Year students. We also welcomed two more Transition Year students Noah and Miriam.
Because of the large number we were able to cover a very wide area and ten bags of litter were collected.
During the week our Volunteer Kitty collected two bags of litter on her daily Litter Picks.
While the Volunteers undertook the Litter Pick, the Transition Year students were busy elsewhere. They collected leaves from both Fr. Sexton Park and Leo Murphy Terrace and did a fantastic job.
In total twelve ton bags (one hundred and twenty large black bags) of leaves were collected. What a great group these Transition Year students are. They get stuck in, work hard and are always in good spirits making the job fun.
