Disgust and revulsion for my fellow human beings envelopes me as I pull into my local recycling bank that is solely for bottles, food cans, drink cans and clothes. The scene in front of me is appalling. There are wet cardboard boxes spilling out their contents of paint cans, broken pieces of electronic equipment along with a mountain of stuff that is recyclable through household bins.

I sorted my bottles and cans ever conscious that I was somehow associated with the mess while standing in the middle of it.

What kind of person brings all kinds of rubbish to dump at a recycling centre? Does it make them feel a bit better than the person who throws the rubbish over the ditch? This is still a problem for many farmers.

A heifer came in with a touch of bloat one evening last week. Colm had noticed her as he brought in the cows. Our immediate reaction was to wonder what might have been thrown over the ditch that she might have consumed. The men check routinely when the cows are near the road.

That day nobody had checked. It’s early in the grazing season. But we’re on our guard now. Luckily, the cause was probably just too much luscious grass.

Using a dosing hook and funnel, we gave her a bottle of cooking oil. She recovered within half an hour.

Recycling campaign.

Recycling takes time

The job of recycling or re-recycling in our homes and workplaces gets more and more difficult. It has become a time consuming chore. It has seriously added to our workloads. The amount of packaging coming into our homes is shocking and it does take time to sort it. We have a great big plastic tub in the office for the job. It’s one of those builders tubs used for concrete.

It was a lot simpler when all waste went to landfill but we’ve bought into recycling to do our bit for the environment

We’ve had it for years. I empty it about three times a week. This is where the re-recycling comes in! I sift out all the things that can no longer be recycled and the containers that have been put in without being washed. I break up large boxes that might be left on top. I’ve got into the habit of doing the major job on a Sunday evening. It’s like a deep cleanse before the week starts. It would be impossible to get through the week without organising this part of our lives. It was a lot simpler when all waste went to landfill but we’ve bought into recycling to do our bit for the environment. It’s a new guilt tripper and a new responsibility for homeowners. I’ve been quantifying the time I spend recycling and I work it out at about four hours a week.

Memories

I remember my first experience of recycling when I was a child. We were on holiday in a caravan in Tramore, Co Waterford. There had been some festival on and there were a lot of bottles on the beach. My brother came up with the great idea of collecting the bottles and returning them to the shop. At the time there was a payment of five pence for each bottle returned. We made a nice bit of pocket money. Obviously, for us, back then, it was about the money rather than recycling the bottles! At home, the milk came directly from the milk tank so it was also a novelty to have the milk man delivering milk to the caravan and again returning the empty bottles.

No soft plastic

It is difficult to retrain to a new way of recycling. Like many people I was not aware that soft plastic was never recycled. So now that is a new job. I believe people want to recycle properly. Our response as a nation has been excellent with regards to reducing the plastic shopping bags. It has become common practice to bring our bags with us. The next step has to be the reduction of packaging. It is difficult to buy loose fruit and vegetables. Colm bought cotton produce bags online at www.ecobags.com to replace the plastic ones we pick up in the shop. They are lovely cream gauze bags. But alas, it is almost impossible to use them in the supermarkets due to everything being pre-packaged. This must change.

All the information you need to do a better job is available on this web site www.mywaste.ie.