In January Cllr Claire Byrne of the Green Party spoke with us about ‘Recycling at Home for the Better’ and gave us advice as to what should be put in the green bin. Some of us brought along waste items and we discovered that certain items, which many of us expected to be recyclable, were not, although it may vary with each recycling company. In general rigid plastic, tins and cans, paper and cardboard can be recycled, but need to be clean, dry, and separated. Claire referred us to a number of useful websites:
www.recyclinglistireland.ie
www.voiceireland.org
www.repak.ie
www.dublincity.ie
www.greenparty.ie
She concluded by stressing the importance of recycling, and identified other ways in which we could help the environment by reducing waste, including buying less packaged food and avoiding the use of disposable coffee cups.
On a bright sunny day in February we enjoyed our annual lunch at the Royal St George Yacht Club. All our guests, especially Revd Canon Sonia Gyles and Revd Anne-Marie O’Farrell were warmly welcomed and club member Ian Roberts was thanked for acting as our sponsor for the lunch. Ralph McGuckin, in his inimitable fashion, thanked Gloria Smythe and Irene Barber for making the arrangements for this event and for organizing the Sandmillers’ programme throughout the year. Gloria thanked Ralph for his seasonally themed seating plan and beautifully executed place cards. She outlined our programme for the next few months. To those who could not attend the lunch because of ill health, we wish you a speedy recovery.