And just like that summer is over. It feels like it happened overnight, but really, it’s been fading for a few weeks now. The Celtic calendar got it right. Lughnasa on the first day of August is when the season changes. It always seems to me too early to call it. I grew up on mainland Europe and August was always the summeriest month of summer. Not in Ireland. It can be full blown summer in July (which it most certainly was not this year), once we hit Lughnasa the land starts to change. When you live in the countryside there’s no denying that Autumn has started pushing out summer. Today, at the end of the month, the signs are all around me. The sycamores and the limes have already turned, and the oaks are right behind. The view from my window has changed from a riot of bright greens to dull khaki and russet. The last two days the temperature has dropped, a strong gale has been shredding the first leaves off the trees on the drive, and I’ve been resisting lighting the fire. I might give in tonight “just to chase the damp”.
It’s been quite a pleasant summer despite the mostly rotten weather. Thanks to the sauna we’ve enjoyed the beach and dips in the ocean regardless of whether the skies were sunny or grey. We had a lovely weekend out in Allihies. When the sun shines there are few places as magical. My plan was to turn the boot of my car into a bed and camp. It was not 100 per cent successful, and so we booked into the hostel for the second night. It was not a total failure either. We just need to add a few bits and pieces. I’m hoping that next summer we’ll get it right.
This summer has also been rather pleasant because we’ve had a lot of friends and family about. Two daughters have been back in the house, which has been delightful. ‘Many hands make light work’ was probably first said by a woman who had adult daughters. There has also been a steady stream of visitors. Again delightful. Wonderful to share good times in good company. Just how good can be measured in the mountain of drinks cans, and other Re-Turn receptacles that have accumulated in the back, back hall. Since the return scheme was launched, we’ve had to add a new category to our recycling: stuff that goes with us to the shops rather than the recycling centre. Eight adults in the house (and a few more over for dinner) equals a lot of soda, juice, beer and other things with the big R on them.
The deposit return scheme was introduced on February first of this year and has been a great success. Re-turn, operators of Ireland’s Deposit Return Scheme, recently announced that over 400 million plastic bottles and cans have been returned since the scheme launched. The 400 millionth drinks container was returned on Thursday, August 15, which sounds like most households had as many visitors this month as we did.
I’m not going to say that it was a bad idea. It’s clearly doing something right. I do, however, have several quibbles about how the scheme works. For starters there’s the can and bottle scanner, which is very pernickety.
The machine scans each item for carefully checking for flaws. It can get upset if you put the can in wrong, or too fast, or if it detects a flaw. Only the most pristine cans are accepted. Unfortunately, a number of people have the nasty habit of crushing cans before putting them into the recycling. The scanner does not like crushed cans, R, or no R.
The scanner also takes offence at being rushed. It will not be hurried. If you have the audacity to try and give it another can before it’s finished with the first one it will shut down and glare at you with a red warning. If it decides to reject an item, it spits it back out. What you do with it is your business. Basically it goes back into the bag. Back into the car. Back into the house. Back into the back, back hall to await a trip to the recycling centre. The machine’s commitment to only accepting perfect cans and bottles, one by one, means that there are often queues. Watching someone else slowly do their civic duty is enough to make you want to watch paint dry.
I have two suggestions. First: get the European machines that allow you to dump an entire bag full of cans in one go. The machine then sorts and scans them. Second: provide bins for the rejected cans and bottles and send them off to the recycling centre rather than back home with me.
