Sir, – I welcomed the European Parliament's plan to ban single-use plastics last week (Kevin O'Sullivan, Home News, October 25th).
I was dismayed then, to travel the Merrion Road on Sunday evening, passing thousands of small plastic water bottles littered along the Dublin Marathon route.
I respect the challenge the runners undertake and the need for regular hydration, but was there no more eco-friendly alternative for providing water, or even a more suitable site for participants to discard these plastic bottles, bar the ground beneath their feet?
Banning single-use plastics may help to reduce scenes such as the post-public event wastelands to which we have become accustomed.
However, waste management also calls for reuse and recycling, both of which need to be facilitated at such events.
Furthermore, littering of any material, regardless of its environmental impact, is never acceptable.
Hopefully the footprint of future Dublin marathons will not be so great. – Yours, etc,
MONINNE CREANEY,
Ballsbridge,
Dublin 4.