Kilkenny artist routs litter louts

A rural Kilkenny community has gotten together to creatively rout litter louts who have been throwing litter from moving vehicles as they pass through their scenic neighbourhood. Under the leadership of local artist, Valerie Blake the determined residents of a stretch of road between The Long Man pub and the railway bridge just outside Bennettsbridge, have been cleaning up waste from the hedgerows and roadsides and making these cans, bottles and wrappers into sculptures to highlight the issue of rural litter. 

The campaign first got under way in 2020 when local residents out on their 5K lockdown walks began to notice the proliferation of alcoholic drink cans on the route, apparently thrown away by a ‘drink driver’  who was regularly travelling the road. At first they just started cleaning up the blue Galahad lager cans, but then Valerie had the idea to make them into a ‘tin man’ sculpture, whom she christened ‘Sir Galahad’. When Valerie showed the figure to her neighbours she got a very positive response and put him up on the roadside to shame the litter louts and highlight the thoughtless littering. 

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Then spurred on by the ‘general outrage and despair at road litter’ they decided to go out as a group to pick litter, get publicity about the issue and make a local protest. In the autumn of 2021 Valerie visited the Garda stations in both Thomastown and Bennettsbridge to highlight the problem and also sent information to Kilkenny County Council.

Next in early September 2021, 17 people got together to pick up litter over a three mile stretch of road in the locality and retrieved over a 100 blue Galahad cans that had been dumped as well as fast food packaging, sweet and cigarette wrappers, plastic bottles, Coca Cola cans and even a pair of work boots! They collected a shocking 14 bags of rubbish from the roadsides. 

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Valerie is keen to point out that this litter is not only bad for the environment it also affects local wildlife: she found slugs, snails and even a baby shrew in the empty cans.  

Valerie subsequently launched a poster campaign along with her sculptures mounted on poles along the road with the result that car drivers stopped to talk to her and also offer their support. At this time, Valerie  says that ‘MacDonald’s litter was still appalling along the road’ particularly in certain regular spots. 

As time went on the general feeling amongst the participating households was that shaming and nagging’ wasn’t working but that ‘education is key’ especially if combined with humour and the visual impact of Valerie’s protest art.

So, in November this year six households again collected litter as a group and Valerie once again created sculptures from the spoils and hung them on poles and signs to highlight unwanted litter. Their efforts seem to be producing results: there is less litter than in 2021 and the blue lager cans seem to have disappeared almost completely. However the plastic bottles and food wrappers are still being chucked from vehicles with depressing regularity. 

Valerie and her neighbours will continue their campaign increasingly joined by more local families who are willing to join in her fight against the litter louts. They have been very encouraged by the positive public response and will continue as eco warriors defending and protecting their local place.  

Valerie believes that businesses need to educate their customers about littering. In her opinion they are providing the litter, so should be held to account about how its disposal.