Yesterday was a busy one to say the least, as Keep Australia Beautiful Week kicked off around the country.
In Melbourne I roped in some friends to help me out with a Nova street team promotion which coincided with others organised across the country at the same time to launch the Littering is Wrong Too campaign.
The morning was spent launching the results of the National Litter Index, which showed a national drop in litter by both item (3.4%) and volume (1.8%) over the past year. Despite the positive national results however, there is still more work to be done, with many states still showing some pretty average stats.
In a quick state by state run down, suprisingly (well it is to me given I associate Tassie with a beautiful natural environment) Tasmania recorded the highest amount of litter by item, 48% above the national average, followed by Queensland.
At least, both recorded a drop on the previous year. In terms of volume, WA topped the list at 71% above the national average. Again, at least a positive decline at industrial sites and in illegal dumping, can be attributed to their zero tolerance policy and tougher new penalties.
NSW recorded a slight increase by volume and items and there was a small increase in litter items in the NT, with cigarette butts again being the main reason for the increase by item. SA recorded a small reduction in litter items, and a decrease in volume due to a very positive reduction in illegal dumping.
The ACT also saw a small reduction by item and volume achieved, and sits below the national average.
Last week I mentioned the new Littering Is Wrong Too initiative. If you haven't yet had a go at coming up with your own 'wrong' then please do jump online and enter your funny, tacky, silly or just plain wrong ‘wrong’ at www.litteringiswrongtoo.org.au
You could win $500 too! And by sharing it on Facebook, you can help spread the word that littering is never cool and hopefully we will see the results drop even further in next year's litter research.
