Litter: time to start humming a different tune

Though written about Salford in Lancashire, Dirty Old Town is a song we have embraced as our own. Over the years it has become something of a national emblem of how we see ourselves, reinforcing an unflattering stereotype to which we seem, strangely, attached.

This week’s litter survey results give lie to this stereotype. Only 6 of the 40 towns and cities surveyed failed to meet the European benchmark for cleanliness last year, and over 40% of towns exceeded it. 12 years ago, fewer than 10% of towns were reaching that mark. Back then, the “dirty old town” label was an apt one. It is not any more.

Of course, litter has not gone away. Dublin City is still let down by a number of heavily littered areas. The North Inner City has remained littered despite all the attention focussed on it in past surveys, but our surveyors noticed a marked improvement this time round. In 12 months time we hope to be able to say that our capital city – including the inner city areas – is a clean one. This is critical, as close on 70% of our overseas visitors arrive through Dublin.

IBAL’s surveys over the years have made for endless ‘dirty old town’ headlines, but they are now largely consigned to the past. Yet, strangely, the public don’t see it that way – many still stick to the stereotype that we are an untidy nation, beset by litter, unaware of the great progress that has been made. People notice litter, but they don’t tend to notice the absence of litter.

This long engrained mindset is holding us back from capitalising on what has now become an asset of our country – our cleanliness. Just a few years ago this might have sounded absurd, but the facts don’t lie. We are no longer among the dirtier countries of European, we are on our way to becoming among the cleanest. We need to start shouting about that.

We sell ourselves to tourists and to food consumers as a country of rare natural beauty and resources. Being a clean country really supports that message. Failte Ireland needs to include cleanliness among it selling points. On a more local level, the many towns that are consistently cleaner than European norms need to start marketing themselves as such to visitors and potential investors.

We’ve moved on from Dirty Old Town. It’s time to start humming a different tune.

This article, written by Conor Horgan in his capacity as spokesperson for Irish Business Against Litter (IBAL), appeared in the Irish Independent in January 2015.