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| About environment protection in Ireland
About environment protection in Ireland
THE REVERSE SIDE OF THE
MEDAL
About environment protection in
Ireland
6,9 million hectares of clean water, colourful
smell sweet meadows, the happy animals in the water and in the mountains. These
are the facts you think of if you were asked about Irland and its environment.
Is there really a untouched countryside? Do you know the reverse side of the
medal?
25 Years ago, Ireland´s landscape were
untouched and clean water was able to use. Then leading economic manager have
got the idea to bring the big industry to Ireland and to make the citizens
wealthier, but they didn´t think about the problems like water pollution
and something like that. Nobody wanted to commit for pollution and waste. If
politicians want to take measures to protect the environment they come across
impediments: At once, the Irish constitutional guaranties every citizens their
ownership-rights. Although another clause give the government the possibility to
reduce the rights of the citizens, but the government didn´t do that yet.
Privat owners are free to do for example chop down trees, to drain damp areas...
87 authorities should care for the water
polution. At this chaos, there´s no wonder, if that it doesn´t work.
The second impediment is that the people
especially the employees have the opinion " protection of the environment makes
the employment rate higher and it is not good for the economic development.
"
The farmers have got 5 million hectars. Not
many years ago, they expand. The following example should show what the results
are:
The sea " Lough Sheelin " which has got 1900
hectares was called " the sea full of trouts ". In the 70´s many factories
with their pigsties came to Lough Sheelin. They produced 1971 30 million litres
of pic-waste and in the year 1979 130 Million litres of pic-waste, and all this
flew in the sea, then the waste rained down the fields. The whole ecological
system nearly died. Not many years ago, the gouvernment has seen the problem and
supported the industry to put their waste in another areas.
Also the Irish people are harmful to the
environment. The average person in Northern Ireland produces 1,400 kg of
domestic waste per year. Over one third of the contents of the average dustbin
is packaging waste. Approximately 95% of wastes go directly to landfill. They
don´t thing about the results. Here are some informations about Irish
people think about reycling:
In 1990 in Northern Ireland there were 202
public bottle banks. A total of 5,100 tonnes of scrap glass was collected, which
is 3.2 kg of glass for each person in Northern Ireland. That´s to few. Only
21% of people in Northern Ireland regularly return waste for recycling compared
to 35% of people in Great Britain.
17 % of the whole surface looks like the
garden Eden, fresh-smelling flowers and grasses, untouched nature. The other 83
% are damaged by the industry and the citizens. If you make holiday there, you
should make your journey´s on the 17 %...
Here are the demands of organisations to
protect the environment:
Integrated Pollution Control.
Effective pollution control should be part of
an integrated system of environmental management. Coordination among Government
Departments is required to give business the opportunity to control pollution
while maintaining profitability. An integrated approach to the management of all
inputs should be adopted at all levels, from Government to individual
businesses.
Air and Water Pollution.
Northern Ireland generally has good air
quality due to its favourable geographic location and the low level of heavy
industry. There is, however, a serious air pollution problem in some urban areas
(due primarily to coal fires and traffic) which must be addressed. Surface water
quality in Northern Ireland is, generally, of a reasonable standard. The DoE`s
target of maintaining waterways at a "fair or better level" is a modest one
indeed and a universal standard of `good` quality should be applied.
Industrial and Transport
Pollution.
Globally industry is the largest source of
pollutants. Although there is a relatively low level of industry in Northern
Ireland, for its scale the pollution levels are high. Government policy is now
for polluters to pay for the true costs of environmental damage they cause and
this is likely to encourage more careful management of waste products. Emissions
from vehicles are of serious concern, especially as a source of small airborne
particles. Development of alternative modes of transport is required.
Integrated Waste Management.
The production of large amounts of waste
materials not only causes problems in their disposal but also speeds up the rate
at which people are using up natural resources. People and businesses should
change their view of wastes and adopt the ideas of Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and
Reclaim for all materials to minimise waste production. A comprehensive system
of labelling of products, which takes into account the full environmental
impacts from the beginning of their production through packaging, distribution
and final disposal, should be implemented to help people make informed choices.
Waste Recycling.
Recycling should become economically and
socially the obvious course. Recycling is one environmental issue which has
captured the public`s imagination and enthusiasm and has great potential for
community involvement. We should all choose recycled materials whenever possible
and recycle our wastes. Government should
encourage the development of the infrastructure necessary for reprocessing
collected material.
Disposal of Waste.
Disposing of waste to landfill is the most
common mechanism employed in Northern Ireland. It has been seen as `simple`,
traditional and apparently cheap in comparison with the other options. The long
term effects, including gas generation and pollution of water courses, are
likely to lead to requirements for extremely expensive site remediation of older
landfill facilities. Newer landfill sites have much greater safeguards against
pollution and are correspondingly more expensive. In the long term much greater
effort must be made to minimise the waste produced. Composting of organic refuse
not only removes bulky and highly polluting materials but provides a valuable
substitute for peat. Incineration with energy recovery is an apparently
attractive option but can contribute to pollution if the process is not properly
controlled and monitored.
Toxic Waste.
The amount of toxic materials produced should
be decreased. Methods of disposal for toxic wastes must be found which do not
lead to air, water or soil pollution. Much of Northern Ireland`s toxic waste is
shipped to GB or further afield for disposal, lengthening the journey and
thereby increasing the risk of accidents. Toxic wastes should ideally be
disposed of locally in safe facilities.
Sources: " Geo - Spezial: Irland ", Internet
http://www.yahoo.uk with the keyword " Ireland environment ". he
environment:
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