Reducing Landfill Waste

Bangor Erris, Co. Mayo

The following are some of the measures that the Bangor Erris Tidy Towns committee have implemented in their locality to reduce the volume of waste going to landfill. Some simple ideas were decided upon such as water harvesting, composting and using plastic containers to grow plants, in order to demonstrate that discarded items  that are ordinarily destined for landfill can have other uses.

Bangor Erris Tidy Towns approached Ballina Beverages and asked for a large water container destined for a landfill before requesting a local business to connect a water downpipe from the eaves gutters of their tool and equipment shed to their water container. The harvested water could then be used to water their trees, shrubs, flowers and window boxes.

It was decided that a 'composting morning' organised by Mayo County Council and Bangor Tidy Towns to encourage composting in the community would be appropriate. Bangor Erris Tidy Towns contacted Mayo County Council and they afforded them two experts who facilitated the information morning. Two compost bins were raffled among those who attended the event.

Bangor Erris Tidy Town collect plastic milk cartons throughout the village of Bangor Erris and use them to grow hedge clippings. Each spring they plant the rooted cutting to create more hedges in the area.

Bangor Erris Tidy Towns contacted a company who had a surplus of plastic barrel containers and asked if they could give them the barrels instead of sending them to landfill. The company obliged, members of Bangor Erris Tidy Towns cut out circles, lined them and filled them with trailing annuals to decorate the village.

Bangor Erris Tidy Towns created a home for 'mini-beasts' using materials which would have been sent to landfill. These materials include timber pallets, old flower pots and plastic bottles that were filled with bamboo to become a home for bees.