Volunteers cleaning up their local beach got the shock of their lives when they stumbled upon a crisp bag believed to be around 50 years old.
Mary Buckley and Carl Jones were litter picking on the strand in Rush, north County Dublin, when they landed on the buried “treasure”.
The Tayto bag – in almost pristine condition – is priced at “4p” suggesting it dates back to the early 1970s, some time after old pounds, shillings and pence were scrapped with decimalisation in 1971.
Rush Tidy Towns chairman Brendan O’Reilly said: “Some people say you can guess the age of someone by the lowest price of a pack of Taytos they can remember.
“But on a serious note, this highlights the importance of disposing of our rubbish properly... this can be a reminder to try to reduce, reuse and recycle.”
The Rush group has just sent its fourth consignment of crisp bags for recycling bringing the total to date to an impressive 22kg which would have ended up in landfill.
Tayto is Ireland’s oldest crisp company and was founded by Joe “Spud” Murphy in 1954.
It was the first to introduce flavoured crisps – starting out with two options of cheese and onion and salt and vinegar.
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