Election poster cable ties scattered around Green

“THIS is something that’s going to persist if you don’t pick it up and dispose of it properly.” 

That’s the warning from John Fleming from Ardscull, Athy, who said his wife and daughter were out walking on 20 June after the recent local elections and found ‘quite a few’ cable ties scattered around the green area at Ardscull Cross. John said they were left after the election posters were removed – his wife and daughter gathered them up and brought them home for proper disposal.

John, who said the same thing happened at the time of the previous local elections, explained that he has a chemistry and biotechnology background and is very aware of the impact and longevity of this type of litter. He found email addresses for seven of the Athy Local Electoral Area candidates and contacted them to highlight the issue. John said he received replies from Mark Leigh (doesn’t use that type of cable tie) and Thomas Redmond (didn’t have any posters at Ardscull Cross).

“I didn’t get to all the candidates,” he explained. “In fairness to the ones that I didn’t email, they haven’t had a chance to respond or put their position forward.”

John made two suggestions – eschewing posters in favour of recyclable and biodegradable paper flyers in the post, or using cable ties identifiable by colour or another marking.