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Archive for News

Biodiversity Action Plan

Posted by Sustainable Skibbereen 
· July 16, 2020 

Biodiversity – by Moze Jacobs & Sekeeta Crowley

https://www.corkcoco.ie/en/news/cork-county-council-adopts-midleton-pollinator-plan

“Cork County Council plans to play a leading role in making the island of Ireland a place where pollinators can flourish,” the Council wrote in February. It should adopt the All Ireland Pollinator plan in full, obey the law, and stop cutting trees and hedgerows out of season. Plus, refrain from using environmentally damaging pesticides and herbicides! There are alternatives. Some may be labour-intensive but in an era of unemployment that is surmountable. Even two hours of research brings up relevant links such as https://www.pesticide-free-towns.info/towns-network. The Skibbereen garden centre, Deelish, stocks organic products that go a long way towards eradicating invasive species.

Awareness of biodiversity can be created through education (schools and agricultural colleges). The study of ecology/biodiversity should become compulsory in secondary schools and in agricultural courses. Also include biodiversity at the planning and development stages of ALL projects. Expand the knowledge base for the conservation and restoration of biodiversity by employing biologists and ecologists and/or funding university research. There is a wealth of knowledge in organisations like the Burrenbeo Trust and Farming for nature which can be accessed, implemented and expanded. Sustainable Skibbereen wants the Marsh to become a biodiversity park and improve the townscape in terms of tree cover, riparian corridors, and ecosystem restoration. It could use the Council’s support and help!

 

The Climate Change and Biodiversity Crisis, declared in Dáil Éireann in May 2019, is the most serious threat facing today’s world. Ireland needs to do its part and so does the County Cork. Councillor Marcia D’Alton put forward a motion on 08/04/2019, “That Cork County Council would become a partner to the All-Ireland Pollinator Plan”. Among her arguments, “In climates like ours, about 78% of flowering plants require pollination. Without pollination, we could not grow fruits or vegetables. Consumers would have reduced food choices, fewer indigenous food choices and higher prices. … the annual value of pollinators for human food crops in Ireland is €53m; that’s about €2,400 per hectare. And the number of pollinator-dependent crops is growing.” The response was evasive. “Cork County Council is supportive in principle of the All-Ireland Pollinator Plan and would give favourable consideration to becoming a partner with a view to giving effect to same on a case-by-case basis, and in as far as is practicable” (Michael Lynch, Director of Planning). 17 county councils around the country have fully signed up. So have Cork, Dublin, Derry city council. What is stopping Cork County Council? The plan contains 30 pollinator-friendly actions to choose from. What is the excuse for non-implementation?

Looking at the County Cork Biodiversity Action Plan 2009-2014, we see a long list of actions that obviously haven’t happened (yet) but should be implemented. For starters.

 

 

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Waste Not, Want Not

Posted by Sekeeta Crowley 
· July 9, 2020 

Waste management. I cannot believe this is not mentioned as part of the Development plan as it is integral if areas are to have increased housing and business. While Ireland currently recycles 33% of all plastics, higher than most EU countries, that figure needs to rise to 50% in 2025 and 55% by 2030 to meet EU targets. 40% of all municipal waste is recycled. But where?

General. Recycling and waste bring centres should be expanded and rationalised so that a visitor is clear what materials are taken and the same things are taken across the county. Each centre should also have the facility to take some domestic rubbish especially in small towns where the surrounding areas may not have door to door collection.Skibbereen has just adopted this scheme, which, although expensive, is appreciated. Recycling of cans and bottles is well established, but a deposit scheme for glass bottles would save on energy (Energy) if they were washed and reused. A collect and return scheme would be needed to get them back to the manufacturer or a bottle sanitising plant. Which could return the clean bottles to the manufacturer in the same way the new ones were sent out for filling.

 

Recycling systems can include a more rigorous sorting of materials into say plastic bottles, soft plastic and black plastic to improve prices fetched for recyclable material.

Communities could be funded to set up repair cafes. An attempt in Skibbereen was scuppered by the lack of insurance cover. Insurance companies need to be held to account for their refusal to cover community schemes. O’Donovan’s hotel in Clonakilty had to stop the rent a bike scheme through lack of insurance. This needs addressing countywide and nationwide.  Repair cafes and freecycle groups keep materials out of the waste stream for longer and provide opportunities for socialising and innovative business. (Community). Principles of the circular economy should be adopted to keep as much material in circulation for as long as possible in its different forms before it finally goes for recycling.

Recycling Centre with more space could devote and area for people to buy or take for free others unwanted but usable items. Skibbereen has Lisheens House which takes used furniture and sells it for funds and is a much valued resource for furniture and for assistance with mental health.

Food waste: The average household in Ireland is responsible for 117kgs of Food Waste pa. Provision of land for allotments and community gardens in town areas provide not only a space to restore well being and meet others, but also a place to grow food.(Community) This reduces food miles (Energy), is more likely to be produced organically (Biodiversity) and can provide composting areas to keep food and vegetable waste out of the urban waste stream. One Green Village Baltimore is setting up such a scheme. In areas where this cannot happen, collection points at the local recycling centres could be serviced by local farmers or other enterprise with space and facilities to compost efficiently. Money could be recouped by selling bags of compost. Tidy towns and other interested parties could be involved in smaller scale ventures, perhaps on street and housing estate level. This is being looked at by Sustainable Skibbereen. Local food markets selling local food reducing food miles (Energy) should be encouraged as people tend to bring their own bags and only buy what they need, rather than the ‘two for one’ special offers encouraging over buying where often the second often unwanted portion lands up in the bin.

 

Plastic.

It is quite clear that plastic has become a major pollutant of land, sea and more recently, air.

Another huge issue is the pollution of the seas, beaches and coastline especially by plastics. A lot of this is in the form of ghost fishing nets found at sea, but also it is clear that on some piers, Baltimore being an example, uncontrolled waste due to net maintenance, where small pieces of cut off nets are left lying around and blow straight into the sea, as is quite evident from the plastic collected from nearby beaches by volunteers. These could be hoovered up from the pier as soon as the net maintenance is finished if there was the machine and enough pressure to do so. The harbour masters should be educated to see the problems of waste plastic in the oceans and given the responsibility of clearing up everything. In my experience some people ignore the small pieces as the large nets are put to one side. Collection of plastics from the sea by boats is encouraged but it is common knowledge that a lot of rubbish is still thrown overboard out of sight of land. County Cork could work towards a more responsible fishing industry community and port management. The County spends a considerable amount in disposal of unwanted nets collected at port and the reason for this waste could be examined with the purpose of reducing it. The leisure craft side also holds a huge responsibility here. (Maritime Cork)

The Blue Flags awarded to beaches should include an element where the rubbish on the beach is included in the assessment for the award. (Green infrastructure). This should be made clear on the beaches themselves and visitors encouraged to take their litter home. On the busier beaches in the summer a beach patrol could be set up a mix of funded workers and volunteers to make visitors aware of the damage done to wildlife and a bit of fun around clearing up.

Ultimately because the plastics industry is driven by the oil industry and the marketing of plastic products is production driven not consumer led, there is a huge role for government on local, national and European levels. Presently the responsibility for disposal is pushed squarely in the shoulders of the consumer and the costs of disposal / recycling borne by them and the County Council. The choice of wrappings in the supermarkets is skewed in the case of fruit and veg towards plastic wrapped fruit as it is usually cheaper and so much easier to pick up one pack rather than select 6 individual apples for example.  Plastic is an amazing product which does its job exceedingly well but it shouldn’t be an instantly disposable product. We have only got to this stage because the cost of disposal/ recycling has not been taken into account in the manufacture. This has to be reversed. And less plastic used in wrapping will also reduce the amount of plastic rubbish strewn in our hedgerows and beaches. It is difficult to see how to dissuade the section of public who throw rubbish out of car windows and dump bags in the countryside.

 

Although Ireland recycles 40% of its waste, recycling of plastics has been shown to be a poor system. In the best of worlds it can only be recycled a small number of times and only 9% is generally recycled. How does Cork County Council check that what is sent for recycling actually gets recycled? This is an important question in the light of recent reports where UK recycling has been found on Turkish beaches.  Technologies should be looked at where plastic can be recycled locally ( Energy) or turned back into oil by pyrolysis to use as a raw material Incineration is a short term answer and its value increased by producing heat or electricity, but it is controversial as unless very carefully run it produces air pollutants. Incineration should not therefore be relied on as a way to remove plastic waste. Certain plastics can be used to produce long lasting structural plastics for domestic and commercial use such as fences and outdoor structures. This could be more easily achieved by better sorting of plastics at the source of collection to provide a cleaner supply. Deposit on bottles is a system long operated successfully in Germany. There is no reason why the reverse vending machines cannot be used in Ireland. Wy not start in County Cork? The Refill program for drinking water refilling stations reduces the need for plastic bottles of water (Energy). This is already in place I Skibbereen and Baltimore and could be further be rolled out in Cork County with the help of community groups, such as One Green Village Zero Waste and Tidy Towns. Keep cups are a growing trend but it has been up to individuals to take this up. Coffee outlets need to be encouraged, perhaps by. Increasing the tax on single use cups and reducing tax on the keep cups. The County Council and UCC have set a good example here by banning the disposables. While some single use plastics are being banned, the Council should take the matter to Government to reduce the production of the single use plastics again maybe by taxation and invest in development to produce long lasting reusable containers for transport of goods which can be taken back up the supply chain to be refilled. This could happen if suppliers got together to streamline container designs and rationalise supply chains. Tax incentives could work with supermarkets given a break if they adopt such schemes. Compostible containers have their place but it’s often confusing as to whether they are fully compostable in the domestic situation or whether they need high temperature composting by commercial facilities. Plastic producers could accordingly be taxed on the amount of material used for single use plastic bags for instance, or given the responsibility of their disposal or recycling. If being imported from outside the EU plastic rich products could be subject to higher import tax. The number of different types of plastic should also be reduced to enable easier recycling. The council could continue the analysis of their own (plastic) waste and look to its reduction. There could be prizes and recognition for companies who reduce their waste by a given amount.

Textiles usually include some synthetic forms these days, so a form of plastic. Waste is partly created by cheap imported clothing, items being worn very few times before discarding. Charity shops and others selling second hand clothing could have rates reductions as they are keeping clothing out of the waste stream. Enterprises using used cloth and other materials could be encouraged though schools and universities

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NETTLE Urtica Dioica

Posted by Jacqueline Kilbryde 
· May 20, 2020 

Nettle is a common plant found in untouched areas where the ground has been left to go wild and without chemical use.  It may be considered a nuisance by some, due to its formidable sting afforded by its formic acid content(same found in ants!) and also because it is seen as an annoying weed.

This is far from the truth as Nettle is not only a great medicinal herb but also a nutritive plant.
The nutritive attributes are manifold as Nettle contains a very high content of Iron and Vitamin C in its leaves. So much so it can be used for iron deficiency anaemia and as a vegetable or tea to supplement our daily iron intake.

As well it contains an abundance of other minerals including Silica. Silica is a useful substance and adds strength to lungs and kidney tissue, as well as enhancing the strength and lustre of hair and nails.  The arrival of Nettle in spring would have been very welcome by rural folk who knew the nutritive value of this plant. Furthermore they would have been aware of its blood cleansing properties and combined with dandelion leaf and cleavers would have used all to enliven the body and rid it of toxic accumulation, after the sluggish winter months.

Today herbalist uses Nettle on a daily basis for its valuable medicinal functions..

Stimulating the peripheral circulation.
For is diuretic effect in enhancing kidney function and ridding the body of toxins.
For its cleansing action particularly suited to skin conditions.
As a remedy for arthritis and painful joint disease, including gout.
For benign prostate enlargement.

In order to augment biodiversity in the garden, a patch of Nettle should be encouraged as it is an important food for butterflies, in particular, and other insects which in turn are a food source for bats. Herbs such as Nettle encourage and preserve the interdependence of the natural world for continuing survival of this rich source.

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Fire Cider..For immune support.

Posted by Jacqueline Kilbryde 
· April 6, 2020 

The present extraordinary time demands extraordinary measures to keep us safe and well. We need to have tools to help and support our immune system as much as possible,and there are recipes available that everyone can concoct for themselves.

One such is Fire cider, made from spices which we probably use daily. These are Garlic,Ginger Chili,and Horseradish.
If it is difficult to source horseradish it is ok to omit it. The spices all have anti-pathogenic properties and are used for viral and bacterial infections.

Get a large,clean,sterilised glass jar and layer the jar(as shown above) with finely sliced ginger root, garlic and chilis. Then pour in cider vinegar, enough to cover all the spices used. Put the lid on the jar and leave in a dark place for 2 weeks, shaking the jar daily.
After this time strain off the liquid. Measure the amount of liquid strained and add to it the same quantity of honey.
Honey is an essential addition as the mixture would be too fiery to take. Pour the prepared liquid plus honey in a clean glass bottle and this can be kept in the fridge. Take 5ml daily as a preventative and 5ml 3x daily in the presence of a respiratory infection.


There are many other herbs that can be taken for immune support at this time.
These include..

Thyme herb which has anti-viral properties and is a great respiratory support herb, calming coughing and wheezing and assisting expectoration and clearing phlegm. Thyme is easy to source as a fresh herb and can be made into a tea by chopping half and ounce and adding hot water..half litre..to it. Cover the container to stop the valuable therapeutic oils from escaping and let steep for at least a half hour.  This is strained and the herb discarded and a cupful drunk 1-3x daily.

Another well know herb which offers immune support is Echinacea. This is commonly taken in Tiincture form as drops and can be bought from health food stores. Research has shown that Echinacea root stimulates the proliferation of white cells involved in the immune response. Dosage is 2.5 ml 1-3x daily, in water.

Elecampane is another wonderful herb to support the immune and respiratory system. It can be taken as a tincture in the same amounts as for Echinacea. Elecampane is commonly used by herbalists for respiratory and stomach infections.

There are many other herbs for immune support and two I use frequently are Astralagus root as well as False Ginseng. These two herbs have the added ability to help debility, weakness and improve energy.

Two excellent wild food sources that can be sourced presently are 3 cornered leek and wild garlic/ramsons. Both have a great affinity to the respiratory system like their family members, garlic and onion. The plants are edible and can be used in salads,sautéed with vegetables or made into a zesty pesto.

For any information on the herbs used in this article please contact
Jacqueline Kilbryde. Medical herbalist 0863369642

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Cleavers- An Emerging Green Herb

Posted by Jacqueline Kilbryde 
· March 5, 2020 

Even through howling/raging winds and torrential rain there is a little green herb pushing its way up and outwards to herald the spring!.  It is a tough plant and has earned itself many common names, including Goosegrass, Sticky willie, and Bedstraw among others.

As the herb matures with the months of growth, it becomes gnarled and fibrous and when picked ,it can be rolled into a dense mat-like structure which earned it the name of Bedtraw. It was literally used to stuff mattresses in the past! Another name for the plant is Cleavers which it is commonly known by.

Its botanical name is Galium aparine…aparine comes from the greek ‘aparo’ meaning to lay hold,of to seize, and belongs to the family of plants Rubiaceae.(coffee belongs to this family) The seeds of Cleavers were once roasted and ground and used like coffee,with a less stimulating action!

This plant is as tenacious as it is tough as it clings to surfaces it comes into contact with affording many hours of fun for children who used to delight in playing with it. The aerial part of the plant is used edicinally which can be made into a decoction or infusion and drunk 2x daily.

The soft new tender plant is edible and may be cooked as greens. Clavers was one of the many treasured spring herbs to be savoured and used by rural folk in our not too distant past. Along with Dandelion leaf and Nettle leaf ,the trio offered not only nutrition but an internal ‘Spring clean, enlivening the organism and bringing it into the spring energy.

It is termed a depurative, a remedy which rids the body of toxin accumulation.And to this end it is used by herbalists today. Its main use is as a lymphatic cleanser and helps to clear and clean lymph nodes throughout the body, enhancing immune function by reducing the incidence of infection. It clears  obstruction to the flow of lymph through the lymphatic system, relieving lymph node swelling, and reducing water retention and oedema.

Another significant action is its cleansing action for acne and hot skin conditions as it draws out impurities and cools hot inflammation. This is augmented by its diuretic action and an aid to kidney function. The coarse texture of the plant is due to high levels of silica which have a strengthening effect on hair and nails and on the organs such as lungs and kidneys which have lost tone and are weakened by recurrent disease.

Cleavers has earned itself a rightful place in the herbal materia media and graces the shelf, in the form of a tincture, in the herbalist dispensary.

Jacqueline Kylbride, Medical Herbalist

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Skibbereen Recycling

Why Recycle when you can Reduce?

Posted by Sekeeta Crowley 
· March 5, 2020 

The Tipping Point

With so much in the news about the likelihood of reaching a tipping point for climate a change and biodiversity, it struck me that we are facing a different tipping point, this one in a more postive sense.

Led by Greta Thunberg and David Attenborough globally and Saoi O’Connor and Alicia O’Sullivan locally, people are waking up to the global catastrophe facing us and although some groups still haven’t ‘got’ it and governments, it seems, are still keen to greenwash actions, the general public have a growing awareness of what they can do on a smaller scale. All these smaller actions add up to a positive tipping point. We’ve not reached it yet, but it is approaching!

Look at the growing number of organisations…Extinction Rebellion, the Zero waste and Rewilding movement as some examples which if added on to the longer established organisations such as WWF, Friends of the Earth, Geenpeace show the spread of DIY action on a more local scale. There is a huge amount of scientific data, far more available in the public domain and now reported on more frequently, clearly showing the state we are in, so there is no excuse for non action. UCC have been getting awards for being a green university, and have been organising so many environmental events, it is a huge inspiration.

The Tidy Towns Movement has now gone way beyond begonias and litter picking. In our own community in Skibbereen and Baltimore Tidy Towns are actively involved in projects aimed at improving biodiversity. Look out for the public training sessions. Schools are joining the plastic free4schools, Rory Jackson has been leading transition year groups to categorise the waste they pick up on their beach forays. Others quietly pick rubbish off the streets and beaches.

Paula Marten has her Paula’s Positive Tips stand to take places to help people reduce their plastic use. Supermarkets are now selling some items which help the customer achieve this. There is Maggy’s, Soap box and others on the market, and Twig refill station in Clonakilty doing the same. So much is happening. Why not send us anything that has inspired you to action, or something you are doing already, which is helping us along the road to reach the positive tipping point?

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Cycle to school in Skibbereen!

Posted by Sustainable Skibbereen 
· March 2, 2020 

Starting on Thursday 5th March children in Skibbereen will be able to cycle safely to school as part of the new Cycle Bus scheme.

Three schools are taking part- St Patrick’s Boys, Abestrewry National and the Skibbereen Gaelscoil.  Any students who want to cycle safely to school can register with their school and join the convoy as it travels through the town, picking up cyclists on the way and delivering them to the three schools.

The convoy will run on Thursdays and be accompanied by adult volunteeers and a cycling Ban Garda.  It is being organsied by Katie Mann of Cycle Sense.  

Cycle Sense write “Soon children in Skibbereen will be able to go to school on their bike by joining a Cycle Bus (a group of cyclists supervised by marshals) This group will stop at various places around town and finish at the school… Watch this space!”

To find out more contact your school.

Why cycle to school?

In the Uk and Ireland many local authorities and cities are encouraging cycling for all generations.  Broxap reports

With children spending more time behind screens than outside, cycling can be a healthy and fun way of encouraging children to enjoy the outdoors. People of all ages can enjoy cycling, but learning to ride from a young age will equip children with a skill for life.  Cycling to school is a good starting point to get children out and about and on their bikes. Providing cycle parking at school will encourage more pupils to ride to school.

Benefits of Cycling To School

  • Encourages independence and builds confidence
  • Good for the environment
  • Reduces congestion – especially around school gates, making it safer
  • Provides an active start to the day, children will be more alert in lessons

Pictured are Katie of Cycle Sense and Brian of Sustainable Skibbereen and St Patrick’s BNS.

 

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Cycle Sense stakeholder Meeting 3rd December

Posted by Sustainable Skibbereen 
· December 2, 2019 

Cycle Sense, a social enterprise focused on the promotion of cycling as a sustainable form of transportation and conducting cycle safety training for schools and organisations, is looking to initiate upcycling and waste reduction projects in Skibbereen.

As the climate crisis rages on, we feel it is important to take actions locally here in Skibbereen to help combat the climate challenge head on. Projects that focus on upcycling and waste prevention are especially impactful, as they address our current system of unsustainable consumption. They can also have significant economic and environmental benefits for our local community, as they reduce the amount of waste produced and collected in Skibbereen and can provide jobs & training opportunities and access to affordable, environmentally-friendly goods for our friends and neighbours.

Meeting

A meeting for potential stakeholders will take place in Skibbereen from 12.00 til 3.00pm on 3 December, 2019 at the Community & Family Resource Centre, North Street, Skibbereen, to discuss these opportunities.

We have partnered with the Rediscovery Centre, Ireland’s National Centre for the Circular Economy, to assist us in studying the feasibility and implementation of these projects. As part of this initial phase, we are conducting an information and exploration session with local stakeholders to look at opportunities, assess local needs and map out current & potential activities in Skibbereen.

Cycle Sense

cyclesense@gmail.com

 

 

 

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3 bays skibbereen community orchard

A 3-bay composting system for the Community Orchard

Posted by Sustainable Skibbereen 
· November 20, 2019 

The volunteers at the community orchard have been busy building a 3-bay composting system for the gardens there. This system handles a lot of garden waste and is a good way to produce your own compost. Fresh cuttings and garden waste are added to the first bay and as they rot down they are turned and moved into the next bay until finally the rotted compost is ready in the last bay for use in the garden.

The community orchard plans to host a composting workshop over the winter at the orchard so keep an eye out for details.

3 bays skibbereen community orchard

3 bay composting at Skibbereen community orchard

 

Composting is good- info here from One Green Planet

1. Composting reduces landfill waste and incineration, and therefore emissions.

Modern waste management methods are environmental tragedies. Waste lies stagnant in landfill sites where the vital oxygen that is needed to facilitate the decaying process cannot reach it. Landfill material also releases greenhouse gases that contribute to climate change: methane gas escapes during the building process. Incineration leaves some toxic ash waste, and the burning process releases a vast amount of carbon dioxide into our precious atmosphere.

2. Composting reduces dependence on fossil fuels.

Most people buy compost for their own potting needs, however in the words of expert composter John Cossham, ‘Home compost is always superior.’ Commercial methods of composting require the use of oil-reliant machinery and a sped-up method of oxidising organic matter at a high heat to get it to break down quickly. No fungal decomposition is involved in this process. Through the slower and more traditional method of composting at home, there is more assurance that everything has been well-broken down by the fungi and bacteria.

3. Composting is good for the land.

Everything you compost at home becomes a thriving habitat and nutritious fodder for an entire population of bacteria, bugs, worms, fungi and creepy crawlies, and what they leave behind becomes nourishing fodder for you plants. The amount of methane emitted through a well-managed compost heap at home? ZERO.

Composting is nature’s way of recycling, found in ancient woodlands and other natural soils across the world. It uses a natural process that still occurs worldwide to produce rich degraded organic matter, also known as humus. This humus provides channels for air and moisture to get into the soil and other gases to get out, eg respiration gases from fungi and insects. Soils with organic matter in them allow mycorrhiza fungi to form a network between different plants in order to facilitate nutrient exchange, and perhaps even communication exchange — but that’s another topic altogether.

Composting is the active breakdown of foods and other materials through an organic process. The ‘waste’ matter becomes as rich as the nutrients you put into it, and compost made from a variety of ‘waste’ materials usually harbours vital micronutrients. You can test this theory by conducting the following experiment. Pot one plant into garden soil and another plant into garden soil mixed with compost. The outcome? The plant in the partial-compost will grow visibly larger than the purely soil-based one.

4. Composting Helps You to Embrace the Natural Cycle of Life and Decay.

Environmentalism is at times heavily focused on the idea of ‘waste,’ because it is such a key issue to the health of the planet. However, ‘waste’ is a human concept and also a human problem. In nature there is no waste, as every living thing serves a greater purpose than its own lifespan, and contributes to the growth of something else. It’s easy to forget this crucial fact, but when you delve into composting your own ‘waste’ you learn to appreciate the cycle of life which involves decay and new growth in equal measure, and you come to understand that everything has a place in the world.

5. You Can Compost Anything that has Lived or Grown Recently

San Francisco is a city that aims for its citizens to live within their means when it comes to ‘waste’ production. In addition to its high recycling rates, the city can also fine citizens found guilty of throwing food in the rubbish bin. This ordinance was introduced with the understanding that landfill-bound waste could be reduced by up to thirty per cent through instigating composting. However, this figure is dependent on the wide-spread idea – and myth – that many types of waste, including certain types of food, cannot be composted, which is simply not true. In fact, you can compost anything that has lived or grown recently. You can compost anything that hadn’t fossilised, as well as types of latex rubber such as marigold gloves, hot water bottles, and latex condoms. There is endless and conflicting advice regarding which materials should not be composted, but evidence behind the suggested reasons is only theory-based, unclear, or murky at best. Cooked foods are said to attract rats, however this can be avoided by digging the compost bin into the ground, ensuring that it has a well-fitted lid, and- if rats really are a problem- burying food waste under a thin layer of the compost that is already in the bin. Many items of decaying food apparently smell bad when they decay, however this can also be remedied, as compost that smells requires more dry materials, e.g. paper, card or twigs.

Composting requires very little work and resources and it has a huge positive impact on the environment. It creates excellent new resources, and in my experience it can encourage even the most stubborn anti-green individual to take part in making a difference. And that’s why it’s the greenest thing you can do for our planet.

Categories :

There will be no Plastics Factory in Skibbereen!

Posted by Sustainable Skibbereen 
· October 17, 2019 

As the SOS campaign slogan said “There will be no Plastics Factory in Skibbereen”.  That turns out not just to be an aspirational goal, but literally true.  The brilliant news after a High Court review is that the application by RTP to build the factory has been quashed.   With expenses awarded to the campaigners, and many legal arguments still to make, the application by RTP has stalled.  The campaign has succeeded.  So congratulations to the SOS team for their tireless campaiging, lobbying, researching and fundraising which have brought it to this point.

Even better, the case is now closed for the forseeable future because RTP have subsequently decided not to pursue an application to build a plastic factory in Skibbereen.

The only loose end is what to do with the Poundlick site, and what will happen to its industiral designation. So share the good news, but keep in touch with SOS for further news on that front.

 The original judement as reported by SOS read

“In the High Court on 30th July 2019, An Bord Pleanala consented to the Court granting an Order of Certiorari quashing the decision of the Bord dated 29th November 2018 which had permitted the construction of a thermoplastic compounds production facility at Poundlick, Baltimore Road, Skibbereen, Co. Cork.

And it is ordered that the subject matter of the said decision be remitted to An Bord Pleanala to be decided in accordance with law.

As is normal in cases of this kind, the subject matter of the decision will be remitted by the High Court to the Bord for further consideration which may result in a request to Daly Products Limited for a Natura Impact Statement. We will be a copy party to communications between the Bord and Daly Products Limited and to any NIS and will have opportunity to challenge or object.

We are advised that it will take a year to 18 months for procedures between the Bord and Daly Products Limited to play out and that no development can be commenced in that period.

Unusually, Daly Products Limited has not engaged in any way in the current process.

An Bord Pleanala has agreed to pay our legal costs.”

RTP withdraws

Now the latest announcement is that RTP Company have withdrawn their planning application.

As reported by SOS “An Bord Pleanála sent notification on September 16th 2019 to our Chairperson Brendan McCarthy that RTP Company T/A Daly Products Ltd. have withdrawn their application for the plastic factory and that there is no ‘live’ planning application now.  This case is now closed.  The SOS campaign has been successful in ways they could never have imagined.  This has been a brilliant example of ‘People Power’.

Go raibh míle maith agaibh!!!

Thank you everyone for your support!!!”

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