Sir, - I would like to offer a solution toward our litter problem. Last year Cork County Council ran an anti-litter league in this county. Our village of Innishannon won the competition, beating all other villages, even though 13,000 vehicles pass daily through our village as we are the first gateway to West Cork.
We won the award by hard work and creating awareness. Every week we posted the weekly results up on the village notice board and in the pubs. People who previous would not have seen litter if it hit them in the face became aware of it. One young woman told me that her entire family had always thrown their litter out the windows of their cars until the Litter League made them aware. This made me realise that a lot of people who drop litter are totally unaware.
Last week in Dublin I watched a worker with a huge street-cleaner leave a busy street in a spotless condition. An hour later it was as if it had never been cleaned. The people walking along dropping litter were unaware that the street had been cleaned and that they were making a mess.
How do we make people aware? An imaginative television advertising campaign. This would sweep into every home in Ireland. We have very clever PR people in today's Ireland; surely they could come up with a good, strong campaign. The business world spend huge amounts on television advertising. They must consider it money well spent. Surely with our healthy economy we can afford to invest in ourselves. Let our Celtic Tiger help to clean up some of his messy territory. Our children can be educated through the schools but if their parents continue to letter they will eventually follow.
People who drop litter or dump bags of rubbish do not read articles about litter and we cannot fine them all. Why not try a well-thought out and well-planned television campaign? A lot of unaware people are sitting out there every night watching television.
It's surely worth a try! -Yours, etc.,
Alice Taylor, Innishannon, Co Cork.