Local litter pickers are the unsung heroes in Tipperary communities

With this year’s “National Spring Clean” efforts already underway in various parts of Tipperary, we are getting a valuable insight into actually just how much litter is being left behind and illegally dumped on our roads and other public places.

Many of us travel local roads and tut or remark at the sight of fast food bags on roadside, clearly thrown from the window of passing cars or bags of rubbish, left in public spaces to be somebody else’s problem, but it’s very rare that we might actually stop our cars and collect the rubbish ourselves.

Of course, it’s not the public’s duty to pick up after someone else, but there are those in our communities who selflessly give their time to just do that.

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Social media page “The Wrapper Collector” has been garnering a bit of online attention recently in north Tipperary for the great work they are doing in highlighting how much litter is on our streets as well as the work they themselves, fellow local litter pickers and Tipperary County Council are doing in keeping our streets clean.

The Wrapper Collector’s page is full of pictures of local areas in Tipperary where litter is making places that would otherwise be beautiful look unsightly: “So sad to see Nenagh’s lovely park treated like a dumping ground. There are numerous public bins in the area and yet people just drop their rubbish everywhere...I scored a few Re-turn cans, some TerraCycle Ireland wrappers and a new shopping bag..I picked up what I could but it needs a good clean with a litterpickers, esp in the leaves and under the trees,” they write alongside a picture taken in Nenagh.

Outside of Nenagh, other Tipperary communities are beginnign to take part in the National Spring Clean. Over 30 people turned out in the village of Dundrum on Monday evening to take part in a community litter pick to make sure the area is spick and span coming into the summer season. Organisers of the Dundrum clean said that there was too many people to thank for helping out on the night, but paid special mention to the Marl Bog community employment scheme, who they said: “constantly keep the village in tip top shape” .

Earlier in the month, local volunteers took part in another successful litter pick from Knockavilla to Cashel. Thanks to their incredible efforts, a shocking more than 160 bags of rubbish were collected along the route — a major win for the environment and the community.

Launching the National Spring Clean last month, organisers revealed: “Last year, 30% of all waste collected during the National Spring Clean was recycled, as the campaign continues to highlight the importance of a circular economy and waste reduction.”
Our local litter picker’s do fight a tough battle, however. There are some seriously disappointing examples of illegal dumping happening in Tipperary at the moment. One particularly bad example was shared on the Nenagh Community News Facebook page where someone had dumped what appeared to be weeks’ worth of rubbish on the side of a trail in the Silvermines mountains. In the comments section of the post, someone else shared a video of an illegal dumping incident in Latteragh forest near the Devil’s Bit where the amount of rubbish left behind was nearly identical to that in the Silvermines. Chairs, bottles, a child’s buggy and even a door were left behind to become someone else’s problem.

A helpful commenter did point out: “Just want to add, that sometimes this happens because of using an unlicensed rubbish collector, always make sure anyone you’re paying has a waste collection permit, which you can check on nwcpo.ie or by ringing the NWCPO.”

Whether it’s the people themselves dumping their own waste or it’s a bad acting “waste collector” it’s important to acknowledge the great work being done by local litter pickers in Tipperary this month in particular as communities rally up to tackle a problem that many will leave for someone else to sort out.

If you would like to get involved in this year’s spring clean up, you can do so by visiting https://nationalspringclean .org/ who will help to facilitate your spring clean efforts.