Episode 01

(Eco Eye s4/e1)

Household Waste Recycling: We explore peoples attitudes to recycling in Ireland. We’re still behind but are catching up with our European neighbours, however, with increasing affluence we’re generating more and more waste. We are recycling more but most of this material is processed abroad (other than glass to Fermanagh). There is much potential for new enterprises in recycling in Ireland. The green bin for household dry recyclables is proving successful and is reducing household costs by diverting waste from the grey (landfill) bin. We look at Dublin City Councils introduction of the brown bin for organic and food waste. This may solve our nasty, smelly waste and is coming to Dublin householders this year. It’s already in operation in Galway and Waterford and we visit a family in Galway city to see how they’ve managed with this.

Cars – Impact on Environment: We look at the growth in car ownership in Ireland and the different types of cars we drive, from gas guzzling SUV’s to eco-friendly small cars and hybrids. There’s been a huge increase in our CO2 emissions from road transport, especially cars. The difference between a polluting large engine car can be 3 – 4 times that of a small car and that means 3 – 4 times as much petrol consumed for the same journey. Father and son Ken and Jonathan Fildes, well known racing and precision drivers, bring us on a journey that shows how we can economise on fuel consumption, save money and also cut down on our CO2 emissions. We also take a look at the potential of bio-fuels in Ireland, so we visit a dairy factory, Carbery Group, in Cork where they produce ethanol from a milk by-product – a bio-fuel that replaces petrol. As the cost of petrol and diesel rise we’ll see a rapidly growing demand for these Irish produced eco-friendly fuels, converting waste to a resource.

North Dublin’s Coast: As an island, our coastline is very important to all of us as a natural amenity and wildlife habitat. Dublin’s north coast, stretching from Howth to Balbriggan is an example of our coastline where a large population regularly visit and enjoy it’s many scenic and recreational attributes. The coast varies from rocky cliffs, dunes and beaches to river estuaries, wetlands and islands, like Ireland’s Eye, Lambay, Rockabill and Shenick (off Skerries). These natural habitats attract large numbers of native and migrating wild birds, some over-wintering in our estuaries and some breeding on our islands over the summer. However, with huge urban development pressures in this region, these amenities are under constant pressure. We explore Fingal County Councils coastal protection strategy and meet with community groups and schoolchildren who are participating in conservation measures. The environmental pressures of North Dublin’s coast are replicated all around Ireland.