Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
LAST UPDATE | 22 Oct 2021
GONE ARE THE days when people had to be convinced about a plastic crisis. Nowadays, you would be hard-pressed to find someone who hasn’t read about microplastics in the ocean and their horrific impact on marine animals.
Plastic pollution isn’t something we can ignore anymore. It’s right there, in front of our eyes. We could blame Covid, the rise of takeaways during lockdown, or a lack of bins. None of these, however, can explain why plastic production is set to double by 2030.
A research team in NUIG recently estimated that a third of waste shipped out of Ireland for recycling will not be recycled and gave a conservative estimate that 3% of plastic waste from Ireland ends up in the marine environment. Given that we produce 300 million tonnes of plastic per annum as a nation, that’s nine million tonnes of Irish plastic waste being tipped into the sea every year.
Pervasiveness of plastics
The insidious nature of this man-made material is so profound that microplastics have been recorded in the depths of the Marianna Trench and as high up as the northern reaches of Mount Everest.
The effects of plastic pollution on the marine environment are well documented, but it’s not just floating islands of plastic debris three times the size of France that we have to worry about. Our oceans act as a carbon sink. In fact, they store up to half of all CO2 produced by mankind in the last two centuries. In the delicate dance of biological chain reaction, algae are mistaking plastic debris as food and are failing to ingest the required carbon molecules floating on top of the water.
This carbon is not getting trapped by the algae, therefore it is not being eaten by the Salps (who ingest algae) and popped onto the sea floor where it is stored, out and away from our atmosphere.
Instead, it is being re-released. This study conducted by NUIG and UCC highlights how marine litter and microplastics may affect animals and even ecosystems in ways not yet considered.
Highlighting the issue
We at the Sick of Plastic campaign have partnered with SSE Airtricity to bring the National Geographic Society’s spectacular Planet or Plastic? travelling photographic exhibition to Dublin for the first time. The exhibition sheds light on the impact plastic is having on our environment, our seas and oceans and marine life.
Mandy Barker is a photographer, whose work features in the exhibition. She has documented the effects of plastic pollution in her work. This image of hundreds of pieces of colourful plastic laid out in a decorative pattern, is almost beautiful in its symmetry. That is until you read that this is fact the remnants of an infant seagulls stomach which had perished due to ingesting so much plastic waste.
‘The future of plastic is in the trash can’, a quote from a plastics industry leader – Lloyd Stouffer in the mid-1950s. He was referring to the endless cash cow that is plastics since our culture is one of throwaway instead of reuse. And he was right.
As long as we are putting it into our bins, then the oil and gas will continue to be extracted, the chemical companies will keep making toxic chemicals to mix with it and the single use, poor-quality plastics that we have come to resent will just keep on coming. It is a business plan, and there has been little or no regulation of the industry.
It wasn’t too long ago that plastic wasn’t so prevalent. Does anyone remember glass milk bottles? Loose fruit and vegetables? We’ve become accustomed to the slightly irritating and bin loading middle man. But our green bins have had enough. Who else is piling their heaviest kids onto their recyclable mound every other week, just to get a bit more space for the recent supermarket deluge of plastic packaging?
So what should be done? Recycle more? No. Make less! Recycling is not the answer, it’s only one small part of the overall solution.
Only 9% of all the plastic that’s ever been produced has been recycled and at that, a piece of plastic can only be recycled a handful of times before it breaks down and has to be incinerated or landfilled.
However, there are solutions, especially at a policy level, that would drastically reduce the amount of plastic we are producing here in Ireland (and no, adding soft plastic to the recycling list is not one of them):
Our Sick of Plastic campaign is very aware of the fact that the solutions have to be top-down (policy) and bottom-up (consumer-driven). We all have a personal responsibility to effectively manage our own waste.
While we call on industry to implement packaging-free solutions and reusable options, we ask that anyone who has had enough of plastic please use their consumer power to make a difference. In Ireland, there are shops that are ‘zero waste’ or ‘packaging free’. There may well be one near you.
Lyndsey O’Connell is the campaign leader of the Sick of Plastic campaign. If you would like to know more, the National Geographic’s Planet or Plastic? exhibition on Harbour Plaza, Dún Laoghaire runs until 11 November and The Promenade, Skerries 15 November to 15 December. Entry is free, it’s outdoors and fun for all the family. The exhibition is also part of SSE Airtricity’s programme of events as a Principal Partner of the 2021 UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow, the crucial gathering of world leaders to address the impact of climate change on our planet.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
The same people who complain about filling out census forms are the same who then complain they can’t get their kids into local schools, heavy traffic on roads and lack of hospitals in their area. The stats are used for forward planning to apportion sufficient budgets to build utilities needed for local populations.
In my opinion, the census does not focus on the real life issues. There is a question about how many bedrooms you have yet nothing about your disposable income. It should be utilized as an opportunity to see how our citizens live on a daily basis as well as the forward planning you mentioned. A great opportunity missed….
At first I was thinking yes prosecute the lazy so and soes. But then I think who will be hurt by them not filling them in? Them and their family because they are not represented. So f them I got mine!
Please point out where a census has ever been used for forward planning in providing hospitals, roads ect.
Silc and the QNHS surveys cover disposable income
They’re partially used for forward planning i.e. the smaller issues such as schools but when it comes major issues such as hospitals it’s irrelevant. Children’s Hospital at St. James anyone?
Remember, most politicians will do something for their area as opposed to the nation ***cough Kerrry cough*****. They’d have 5 lane motorway, state of the art hospitals, universities, airports, schools if the Haley Ray’s got everything on their government wish list and the CSO stats wouldn’t even be considered by either party.
Using the threat of prosecution to force someone to do what they do not want to do is not right. It should be your own choice to fill out any form. The Nazis forced Jews to complete census forms before they were slaughtered. Not that that will happen here but census information can be used for good and bad. Liberty should take preference
Those STATS could also be used for the Government to spy on its own people.
the census needs to count the people who enter and leave the state not Government meddling into peoples lives. why does the government want to know how many rooms i need? strange is in it?
Paranoia. What bad can it be used for?
An important part of the census for me is the religion part. We are considered to be 90% catholic which is not my experience maybe I’m wrong but that’s what the census is about.
Kevin, it will tell what % of the population live in a house too big/small for them.
Oh and it’s nothing to do with money. OK everything is going to be just grand and dandy if we fill out these forms.
The census is anonymous Deborah so it’s the population in general who suffet
If my great grandparents hadn’t filled theirs out , I wouldn’t have found out I had a gran aunt and gran uncle who didn’t live past their teenage years.. So thank you Daniel and Ellen Foley
Lovely story.
It’s ridiculous that people can’t grasp that the information they provide is important for the running of services in communities all over Ireland. Besides, Google and Facebook have 10 times the information about you yet no one seems to care and they only want the information to make money. Your bank probably has more info on you than anything in the census too (where you shop, when, how, why, how much you earn, where you work) yet no one cares. But being asked to answer a few simple questions and everyone seems to suddedly care about privacy? Don’t get it…
some of these commenters can barely grasp how to use a keyboard
And yet they seem to be keyboard warriors..
@Daragh.
‘ the information they provide is important for the running of services in communities all over Ireland.’
Any proof of that Daragh?
It’s a fair question.
Where’s the historical proof that the data collected from the census helps create a better society?
Just about every single capital expenditure by the government uses census data to support its business case. When you here projected numbers for road usage, pensions, housing, schools etc where do you think the data comes from ?
This is very basic information given. It helps the civil service to determine policies and what needs to be done going forward. For example, if there is an increase in young children, schools are looked at, etc by the relevant departments. They are not going to release that information. The banks actually hold way more confidential information than the census. They civil service needs to know how the population is going, so it can plan policies for the future and allocate money to areas for services to the people.
Agreed, it’s farcical. A school that won’t be built for 20 years or more won’t arrive any faster due to the census. Roads that are badly needed (Limerick/Cork anyone?) won’t be built either nor will roads be upgraded. The questions about water supply is only for one thing and there were other questions that I was deeply unhappy answering.
What were you “deeply unhappy” answering?
Most likely its just laziness and they couldn’t be bothered
It’s wilful ignorance and suspicion in my experience. “Tell dem nutting”
Morons, basically
Yes we’ll prosecute people who didn’t bother filling in a form they’re a real threat to society
Well Alan, because they refuse to help the wider society to be able to plan for the future by refusing to tell the enumerator their demographic information, they are harming the wider society. Their refusal makes it more difficult to plan hospitals, schools, roads, care placements etc.
Alan b
You Sit are a fool
Sir not Sit
Oh the irony
I filled it in only because it only took me about 5 minutes and I couldn’t be ar*ed dealing with somebody calling back and annoying me but could someone please explain how on earth when it takes about 15 years to get a school built or upgraded in this country or when the health service has tens of thousands on waiting list can they say that it’s used to provide adequate services… Don’t be daft.
Stop now or someone will label you as a dissident fringe type for asking a common sense question. Shouldn’t we know when our betters ask questions, not to worry about why? The school you have been waiting for 20 years to get will arrive some time. Why do you need a census when all it does is to remind you that it was the local political hack who initially asked for the school and his son or daughter, now in his seat, can continue the fight to get this ‘essential service’?
Paddy it is used to provide information for public service delivery. Obviously it cannot guarantee the delivery of that service as that depends on other factors.
There are a lot of paranoid and ignorant idiots posting on this topic. Go on to the CSO website and find out what the data is used for. It’s fascinating. And also essential in a modern economy.
Even if they cooperated and all data given, the gov would still make a mess of the planning anyway.
But the whole premise of the thing is that it is used to plan for services. If it’s not then what’s the whole point of handing a state contract worth millions to a company to carry it out ? … Ah never mind.. I kinda answered my own question there didn’t I ? There’s a contract worth millions involved…
If you refused to fill it in I hope you refuse any services too.
NO.
Definitely not.
I didn’t fill in the census form. But I’m not a criminal. I refused on principle.
For two reasons.
1. The census form is far too invasive.
Giving anyone that much information is dangerous. A government data bank of that size can only mean one thing.
Totalitarianism.
2. Filling in the census form is a pointless waste of time.
We’ve had census information since the beginning of the last century and that information has done no good whatsoever. Look at the state of the country.
No housing.
No proper health care.
Not enough schools.
No broadband.
If anyone wants to try and convince me that the political establishment in this country will use the data collected in the census as a blueprint for a better society in the coming decades then you’re welcome to try.
But our task will be in vain.
Why?
Because you have no historical evidence to support that argument.
No jobs.
So you don;t have a pps number either then, eh? Or an IP address or an actual home address, a phone number, utility bill, drivers licence, birth cert, marriage cert etc etc?
The information collected by the census is pretty mundane.
Tinfoil hat much?
Idiotic nonsense! Educate yourself by reading this: http://www.cbs.gov.il/census/census/pnimi_sub_page_e.html?id_topic=1&id_subtopic=5
I assume then that you are willing to opt out of any services offered by the government in return then? If not willing to take part to play your part it’s only fair you write to them asking you to be taken off from any state benefits also so they don’t have to contribute to you?
So basically you haven’t told the government what you and your family need. Are they supposed to guess?
Gobsh@te
@Greg Kelly.
‘I assume then that you are willing to opt out of any services offered by the government in return then?’
I pay my taxes.
End of.
Just as I thought.
No convincing argument.
i think he might have been scared off by your tinfoil hat…
If you despise The Man so much, maybe you should stop accepting dole money from him. Or maybe emigrate, and take your paranoia and conspiracy theories elsewhere. It’s a census. Every country does it. The people who come out with that sort of drivel are generally the ones who have way too much time on their hands.
I go into the utility room and turn on the tumble dryer any time I’m having a conversation which might reveal anything about myself. Either that, or I use cue cards. I think the CIA/local Gardai may have my house bugged. I’m very wary about this ice cream van that cruises up and down the street every so often. Who eats ice cream in this weather? Think about it.
@Can’t think.
Dole money?
Some hope. I’m self employed.
You keep signing your life away though.
Mmmm. Sure. ‘They’re onto us Cyril!! Go go go!!’
It comes as no surprise that you couldn’t get anybody to employ you.
‘It comes as no surprise that you couldn’t get anybody to employ you.’
I prefer working for myself thanks.
So maybe you don’t pay ALL of your taxes hmmmm
A lot of people who do nothing describe themselves as self-employed. More palatable.
You’re wasted here……….you should be over on the Daily Mail.
If your going to prosecute those who failed to co operate with the census, surely we should prosecute those who fail to vote on election days?
nah
You aren’t legally obliged to vote..
In a situation where you are uneducated on the question it’s best if you don’t in fact vote rather than influence something you don’t understand. There is no situation where it is not beneficial for yourself and society to fill our your census.
I’d say if your going to prosecute those who failed to co operate with the census, then we should prosecute those in power who don’t act on the information we give them in the census.
Maybe prosecute bankers and politicians, expense fiddlers, and gardai who are currupt, commissions who destroy documents and mobile phone records, white collar criminals.
Then once all that is finished maybe worry about the odd person who values their privacy, and doesn’t trust nosey enumerators, gossiping about people and unsealed forms.
Would you not agree that citizenship includes a duty to both inform yourself of the question, and then participate to the best of your ability?
Shouldn’t there be a “refuse to answer” option in this poll so that these people can speak up for themselves?
No
Thanks for your feedback Joe. I’ll need to take some time to work out the finer detail of your response before I’ll know exactly where you stand on my suggestion to extend social inclusivity to those who actively don’t want to be included by giving them the means to engage without actually contributing anything useful. I’ll get back to you :-)
My census is still sitting on my shelf waiting to be collected. It will be interesting to see if I get a summons
@Maggie Elizabeth Walsh.
Never heard of an post?
There’s no post office in her area because the government thought nobody lived there.
It’s all the conspiracy theorists who think the government are out to get them through the census.
Fine Gael?
They are.
Are the irony is they make actually come and get them for not filling it in
They are vital ! Jesus and Mary didn’t complain and they had to travel a good distance to report for the census ! Says it in the bible ! Yours is delivered to yer door … same as the water to your taps and your loos !!!
Grand, lets all do it because they did it in a fairytale!!!
26% economic growth?
Fairytale economics.
26% increase in Gross Domestic Product?
traditional economic measures proving clumsy
Prosecute the people with multiple violent convictions first. Then we can talk about prosecuting people who don’t participate in box ticking exercises.
How about we do both?
The heavy handed state again, passing the info to the dictators in EU.
Which ones? Hitler?
the state dropping the heavy hand
Why should you be prosecuted for doing nothing, surely a better system is available?
I’d be against any automatic prosecution process involving this state. I’d also (given the retched excuse for a political system we have) oppose any prosecutions for not filling in a census form, when so many politicians and councilors failed to disclose assets, property, business interests, directorships, etc. (as revealed during the Prime Time Investigates show last year – in case people have forgotten that part of the show and only remember councilors seeking unethical/illegal payments).
Of course the should’nt, ridiculous idea, whats next, people who refuse to “insert answer here”
The Census is an important state document and the pressure on people to both fill it out, and fill it out properly should be maintained. In fact, they should come back around a second time unannounced and do spot checks here and there to make sure people are filling them out truthfully. Anyone then found to be intentionally misleading should be prosecuted too.
Yeah Undie they could make sure everyone who ticks the box for Catholic goes to mass every week.
With a Nazi uniform on ,come into my property demanding answers ,i suggest you write down your blood group on your Nazi dogtags ,
It should be scrapped. The super detailed Census has been made redundant by open access to our services for all citizens of the EU. Forward Planning can be achieved using other methods. Few civil servants might lose their jobs though. Maybe that’s why we all have it.
“.Still have it”
It’s just a stock take
The atats are used by the government to manipulate scenarios like now we need more politicians total farce
Would organising a census night sleepover and inviting all of your 500 Facebook friends over ( bring your own census form) be illegal ? It certainly would stand out in Irish GDP proportions against the national norm for a 3 bed semi.
It might be more interesting if four million people left their homes and went camping for a couple of days.
Hey if you could be bothered to do that the results would be interesting though why anyone would do that is weird and a waste of energy but you know.
Deborah __ I think it’s probably more of a waste of time replying to my comment, but I look forward to your attendance at the flash-mob camping trip at the next census, along with the 3,999,998 other people. :p
The government do a pretty poor job of taking care of peoples needs as it is, so we should give them them the information so that we can gain some small fraction of the required services from them, otherwise they would think that everything is great is great and continue looking after thier rich friends even more.
Vote for me or I will shoot you.
Yes we don’t have enough pointless legal issues to keep all the lawyers and judges in our commercial court services in business. And suspended sentences for everyone in the audience. Ireland is a legal joke internationally. Just like a little USA. I wonder how many people would consider suing me just for making this statement.
jaysus suspended sentencing references are popping up like pokemon
Problem is pokemon are digital code displayed on your phone whereas suspended sentences are all to real.
I think it better if the law was changed so a judge could order the authorities to ‘find’ or ‘discover’ the required information and pass the extra cost of this procedure onto the anti-social in question by way of fine.
We should stand up against this government and their imposition of odious questions
#cantsaywontsay
I thought you were from N. Ireland Alphanautica?
Some question are important but the rest like what religion you are and how many rooms in your house are not? Unless there is going to be a new tax on rooms?
Should only be able to ask how manys in the family home and names..nothing else is their buisness.fook them.
Yes, fook them. Fook them and fook their dole money.
When i was informed my census form was “missing ” and handed another form i asked ” Where is the form with all my personal information “? all i was told to fill in this i refused and was told “her supervisor would want to see me and did i want to be brought to court ” ? I reminded this cow that she was on “Private property and i dont like been threatened , she and her supervisor would be treated as trespassers and would be treated like that i reminder her of the act .Let me remind you or the person from the company contracted to collect census forms that they are on private property and when asked to leave should do so as they are trespassing …..It is an offense to trespass in a manner likely to cause fear in another person under Section 13 of the Act. There is no inclusion of any intent to commit a crime or to interfere with property in this section.”"”" .Never heard another word
Some people would stop for a green light and go through a red, just because it’s the wrong thing to do.
Apartment management companies who refused to cooperate with thr enumerators should be heavily fined.
Vital information about population is needed. Everyone needs to take part.
Why bother wasting money on legal fees. They would most likely get legal aid and a fine which would never be paid. Just let it go.
somewhere, somehow, legal aid is to blame
Not at all. All they’d have to do next time is put a section in that asks about your neighbours.
The people
Form
The Irish question should be prosecuted for falsely presenting questions. I have never heard a person speaking Irish in Dublin on public transport or on the streets. I have never heard it being spoken in a workplace and I have visited hundreds though work. If I did I would assume it was a subversive reason. Yet the census tells us so many speak Irish as a result of the figures in the statistics. Also I have never heard it spoken in Sligo Galway Clare Kerry Cork etc.
How can someone’s right to autonomy be prosecuted, Ireland is feeling more and more like a dictatorship every day, feck off with ya
What ever happened to civic duty?
I have
have your say