Last week saw the installation of five high-tech 'CityTrees' in Cork city - four-metre tall pieces of street furniture which are covered in a mixture of moss cultures that filter harmful pollutants out of the air.
The installation of these units is part of Cork City Council's efforts to combat air pollution across the city with CityTrees being installed at Patrick Street near French Church Street and on the Grand Parade close to the City Library.
According to the council, each CityTree can filter the air usage equivalent of up to 7,000 people per hour - sounds great, right?
Great, that is, until you look at the costs assocaited. The Irish Examiner reported today that the installation of the five CityTrees has cost taxpayers €350,000 and that an estimated further €2,000 a year will be required in maintenance costs.
It seems some Cork residents are feeling resentful of these staggering costs on the basis that the money could have been better spent on more pressing matters. This resentment has manifested itself in the CityTrees being vandalised over the last week as protestors pelted the units with fast food and plastered them in posters explaining their position.
One such poster quantifies the protestors' frustration by suggesting the money spent on installing the machines could have covered the costs of approximately 475,000 school meals for disadvantaged children.
The vandalism has not affected the CityTrees functionality the council's director of operations, David Joyce said. He also dismissed claims the machines were already out of order, explaining that they have been "recalibrated" twice since their installation last week.
After council workers were spotted running a hose into the service hatch of one of the machines, it emerged that each CityTree has an 800 litre water tank inside to keep the moss walls moist. This has brought into question the overall sustainability of the devices.
Environmental scientists have also questioned the extent to which the machine will actually make an impact on air pollution, arguing that planting real trees may have been more effective.
Critics have also labelled the machines as 'robot trees' and dismissed them as nothing more than a gimmick.
The council has said the performance of the trees will be monitored and reviewed annually so we will have to wait until next summer to understand how effective these futuristic devices actually are.
Featured Image Credit: Cork City CouncilTopics: Ireland