Litter shame
STATE DISGRACE
I find it extraordinary that with all the education we’ve had over the years that fellow Australians, fellow locals, still toss litter on the ground without a care in the world.
Chip bags, straws, drink containers, lolly bags plastic wrappers and the like. This story was prompted by a walk I took near my home here in Port. On that short stroll I picked up what you see in the main photo of this article. If I’d taken a longer walk, I could have filled a big garbage bag. Back in South Australia, where I lived for many years and at a time my kids were very young, a not for profit ran a campaign called KESAB (Key-Sab) which stood for ‘Keep South Australia Beautiful’.
It was so successful that the organisation still exists today. KESAB started in 1966 as a litter reduction campaign. The founders were the Adelaide Junior Chamber of Commerce, Advertiser Newspapers, Australian Glass Manufacturers, Royal Automobile Association of South Australia, South Australian Brewing Company, and General Motors Holden.
The whole community got behind the campaign like no other and any kids who went through those times couldn’t litter if they wanted too. It ended up in their DNA. I witnessed my kids actually putting lolly wrappers in their pockets until they could locate a bin. Much of KESAB’s work is ground-breaking and is studied and emulated around the world.
We are the worst
Since 2005, the ‘Keep Australia Beautiful’ network has produced the National Litter Index (NLI), based on bi‑annual litter surveys of 983 urban and near-urban areas across Australia. Queensland has consistently recorded a higher average number of litter items than the Australian average. The Sunshine State is trailing the field when it comes to litter and it’s a disgrace.
Litter has been defined as the deposit of waste at a place that is an amount less than 200L in volume. Common types of litter include cigarette butts, drink bottles, fast food wrappers, material from a trailer that is poorly secured, grass clippings swept into the gutter, fishing tackle and so on and so on. The point is people are still discarding stuff and not taking the time to bin it.
Littering harms
Littering pollutes our environment and significantly diminishes the use, enjoyment, and value of our paradise home. Litter dropped in streets, along the side of the road, or in bushland can be washed or blown into creeks and rivers, polluting land, waterways, and ocean environments. The fact I still see people tossing cigarette butts out of their cars or on the street is quite frankly unbelievable.
Don’t you know the next time it rains that butt is washed down our drains and ends up, well you know where. Litter also causes great harm and suffering to the animals that get tangled in, injured by, or ingest items, along with facilitating the spread of disease and pests.
Littering costs our local communities millions of dollars each year in waste management and clean-up expenses which could otherwise be used for important community services or amenities. Sure, you could cop a small fine for littering or be slapped with a heavier one if it’s dangerous material, but the real question is why are we still doing this? Why do people throw their litter on the ground without a care in the world?
Education, education education
Wouldn’t it be great to live in a world where people automatically bin their discarded items, like KESAB encouraged 57 years ago. Way back then, it rubbed off on the adults too, there is no way I could throw away rubbish of any sort and yes, I’ve also pocketed items until I could locate a bin. Of course, on the first Sunday of March each year, groups of citizens clean up trash at different sites across the nation.
According to ‘Clean Up Australia’, more than a million people participate each year, which is great but let’s carry that on to the other 364 days. Teach your kids what’s right and fill their minds with caring for Douglas and in turn, the whole world. Do a KESAB and get em while they’re young and we might have a bright and clean future. KOSB (Koe-Sib) ‘Keep Our Shire Beautiful’. Hmmm! that has a ring to it.
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