Volunteers in Dublin who regularly collect rubbish from the River Dodder and its tributaries have catalogued one of their largest clean-ups yet.
Members of Dodder Action Group, Tallaght Litter Mugs, and Jobstown Stream Action Group joined forces to collect rubbish from the Jobstown Stream yesterday.
In a post on Facebook, the groups detailed exactly what they collected during "one of our worst sessions yet".
In addition to 63 bags of general rubbish, were four televisions, six bikes, an X-Box, two drums of waste oil, two beds, three chairs, three artificial Christmas trees, two car batteries, duvets, a baby seat, a buggy, a radiator, and an oven. Piles of dog faeces, bones of beef carcasses, horse feed and a large quantity of metal fence collectors were also found.
One of the volunteers, Caragh Coote, said: "We hadn't been here since December, and there had been a huge build up. Normally we just say we picked up so many bags, but yesterday I just decided to sit down and make a complete list. We were really concerned by the two full oil drums and the two car batteries. The toxicity of those items is horrendous.
"South Dublin County Council really have to step up. Most of this stuff had been lying there for at least two weeks. I dread to think what would happen if we stopped coming here. But you can't just vilify the entire area, as many people who live here can't afford transport to bring bulky items to the dump. It's a small group of people, I believe, who are responsible for the worst of this dumping."
