Going green can cost the earth but we do our best to be eco-friendly

ANEIGHBOUR recently had solar panels installed on their roof. Naturally I was straight over to ask how much it had cost and if they expected the savings they’d make on their energy bills to cover the price of the installation.

It wasn’t cheap, they admitted, not at all. But they were now retired and in a position to do something they felt was important for the environment. So the short answer to the latter question was ‘probably not’.

Another thing to stick on the list of ‘stuff we’d like to do, but there’s no way we’ll be able to afford it’, alongside getting an electric car, which would be difficult anyway because we live in an area with on-street parking, or retrofitting the house to get a better save-the-planet rating and then possibly being eligible to apply for a more reasonable ‘green’ mortgage rate, while also slashing ridiculous heating bills.

Like with many others, I suspect, it’s all beyond our reach no matter how concerned we are about the environment and the kind of planet we’ll be passing on to our kids.

The initial outlays, regardless of available grants, are huge, especially when trying to stretch each pay-packet to cover massively inflated day-to-day energy costs – even with the recently announced cuts.

We do what we can otherwise: reusable shopping bags stored in the boot of the (diesel) car; all food packaging carefully washed, dried and put in one of the multiple kitchen bins; food waste faithfully scraped into the compost caddy; cans and bottles set aside for the bottle bank.

There are slightly affordable upgrades: the attic was reinsulated a few years back and it made a difference, while an unexpected windfall helped pay for new double-glazed windows at the front of the house.

Urban living might not be for everyone, but it definitely brings green benefits. The car is used minimally; however, getting rid of it altogether would be a step too far – public transport across the city to where family lives is a painfully slow process. And the bus to south Donegal takes four hours, sometimes longer, compared to a car journey of two-and-a-half.

Everything is on our doorstep here: all manner of shops, a library, several parks, a canal, the local pub. And there are excellent transport links, including the Luas, for amenities a bit further afield.

We’ll also embrace the new bottle-and-can return scheme, mostly because our local Tesco has already installed a couple of the very big machines, just as you go in the door. And we’ll probably get into the habit of holding on to the receipts to use against future shopping. You wouldn’t bother queuing up to get reimbursed there and then, as it’s one of the busiest stores in the city.

Once again, it’s going to be easier for us to follow through on our environmental concerns.

Yesterday, a retailers’ advocacy group claimed on Newstalk radio that less than one third of shops across the country will offer the new money-back service on plastic bottles and beverage cans when it’s introduced on February 1.

Issues around the new Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) scheme have been raised for some time, with smaller producers and retailers dismissing it as an ‘onerous’ and unfair new system. They have a point. Run by the specially established not-for-profit company Re-Turn, it means that in less than two weeks consumers will pay a 15c levy on every plastic bottle and aluminium can up to 500ml. Anything over 500ml will incur an extra charge of 25c.

The consumer can then return the empty vessels through reverse vending machines (RVM), and receive a voucher, which they must then swap for cash at a till point. Other retailers can opt to receive the cans and bottles back over the counter, in a straight cashback transaction.

Retailers will get a handling fee of 2.2c for every container that goes into their vending machine, or 2.6c for each one they take over the counter. And here’s the pricey initial outlay part – to install a vending machine can range in price from €12,500 up to €200,000 for large or multiple RVMs with several collection hatches.

Shops under 250 sq m can apply for an exemption from having to handle returns, which, according to retailer spokespeople, is proving to be the preferred course of action, because who wants the hassle or has the room to deal with all that waste, not to mention the paperwork involved?

The consumer must also make sure the bottles and cans are in pristine condition so the machines can read the new, required Re-Turn barcodes.

Re-Turn chief Ciaran Foley recently admitted: ‘We appreciate there’s a hassle there. We recognise this is probably the biggest social, behavioural change since the plastic bag levy or the smoking ban; we’re not underestimating that at all.’

Of course, like all green initiatives, this is about Ireland fulfilling its commitments. New EU directives on single-use plastics state that by 2025 at least 77% of plastic beverage bottles must be collected separately from other plastics. This figure must then rise to 90% by 2029.

It’s estimated that, roughly, only 60% of plastic bottles and aluminium cans are currently put in Irish recycling bins each year. And we do love disposable vessels – the Department of the Environment says we use almost two billion of them each year.

Similar schemes have worked elsewhere across the world: in Europe alone, 12 countries either have one or are putting it in place. Indeed, one of the expected benefits is that discarded bottles and cans, which litter our beaches and parks, will be picked up to be exchanged for cash.

But there are also fears that smaller retailers, already in competition with supermarket chains, will lose precious footfall due to people heading to places that have the space and can afford to install RVMs.

Meanwhile, smaller beverage producers, who must charge and then reclaim the levy, complain they are being stung with extra administration costs and timeconsuming paperwork.

Like the plastic bag levy and the smoking ban, it will be an effort for all concerned.

But like retrofitting and electric cars, it also proves that for some of us, going green can be a prohibitively costly venture.