Litter is destroying our Planet – What can we do to stop it?

As you walk past a plastic drink bottle or plastic bag lying in the gutter, do you ever think of where it will end up? Have you ever thought about the journey that one simple piece of litter can travel if left to reach its own destination? Ultimately it will probably end up in the ocean.

But it can wreak havoc by first creating a visible eyesore. If ignored, after being blown this way and that by the wind, it will land in a gutter system designed to carry rainwater into the city’s stormwater system. Chances are though, it will first create a blockage causing the gutters to overflow and cause flooding of the nearby streets and roadways. Eventually it may contort itself down into the stormwater system and into the creeks and rivers making their way to the sea. Finally, it finds freedom as it washes into the ebbing and following of the tides and currents, free to flow wherever the mood of the sea takes it.

Eventually it may even become a part of the  Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Situated in the Northern Pacific Ocean between California and Hawaii, there are estimates of size in the vicinity over “twice the size of Texas”

Can you even imagine a garbage patch that big? That’s an area of nearly 1.4 million square kilometres? And it’s sitting right there in the Pacific Ocean. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is not actually an island, not even a vast floating reef of waste swirling around in never ending circles by the ocean’s currents. But it does exist. Most of the debris consists of small plastic particles suspended at or just below the surface of the water. Oceanographer, Charles J Moore, in his 2011 memoir Plastic Ocean, described it as “…a thin plastic soup, a soup lightly seasoned with plastic flakes, bulked out here and there with “dumplings”: buoys, net clumps, floats, crates, and other “macro debris.”

A foundation in the US, The Ocean Cleanup is planning a major clean-up of the Earth’s oceans with a goal of plastic free oceans by the year 2050.

But this goal cannot be achieved by just cleaning up what exists in the ocean at the moment. The foundation stresses that “combining the cleanup with source reduction on land” is necessary to achieve this”.

Well, you may ask what it is we can do to contribute to the effort. My belief is that litter is polluting our country and we only have ourselves to blame.

Why is it that modern generations have such little regard for our first stop environment? When I say first stop, I’m referring to the areas that we negotiate each day when we leave our homes or step out of the car. such as footpaths and streets, roadways and highways, parks and beaches. New Zealand is lauded for its clean, green image. But sadly, that’s all it is, an image and not reality.

As a matter of curiosity, every day last summer I walked down a designated stretch of Rangatira Road, a residential street in Auckland, and collected all the litter that was lying in the gutter, on the footpath and on the verges. And every day, along this 200 metre stretch, I collected at least a dozen items of litter. These litter items ranged from empty cigarette packets, aluminium cans and plastic bottles, takeaway wrappers and yoghurt containers, tissues and junk mail. And one day I even picked up a soiled disposable nappy.

What kind of people continue to drop their filth at their feet when there are rubbish bins dotted along the footpaths. Sometimes, I found the same type of litter items outside the same properties and I often wonder what goes through these people’s heads. Who do they think is going to clean up their rubbish? Do they think the litter fairy comes out after dark and sprinkles magic disappearing dust over their rubbish?

And it’s not only the city streets. Whenever I travel around the country I have a few places where I love to stop and admire our beautiful scenery. One of my favourite places is the Waipunga Falls, which is a delightful stop-off along the Napier-Taupo highway. The falls are beautiful and for me it is always a must stop area, whether I’m travelling alone or if I’ve got fellow travellers with me. Without fail, I always find the carpark looking like a dumping ground for every bit of traveller trash imaginable. I’ve been tempted to gather up all the litter and place it by the rubbish bin but circumstances have never allowed me to do it. The main reasons are that I never seem to have a suitable container in my car to gather the rubbish, and realistically it would take at least a couple of hours to clean up the area completely. So, I usually drive away with a heavy heart, frustrated that I leave such an awful display in all its ugliness for tourists to see.

In Auckland City, the council has tried to address the litter problem. A system of fines is in place for the offenders of reported illegally dumped rubbish. These rules and fines are a first step in the handling of observed and reported littering, but as we all know, the majority of littering goes unobserved and unreported. But at this stage, there seems to be no existing initiative to discourage people from littering. It almost makes you think that if you don’t get caught or reported, then it must be ok.  That seems to be the attitude that is accepted not only in Auckland but across the whole country.

On a national scale, there is no focus on keeping our country litter free. I see the odd ‘no littering’ sign, usually placed beside a rubbish bin but that’s all. There is so much promoting of our waterways, our beaches, our bush, but there is nothing about our streets and parks and highways. And this saddens me enormously. We need to raise awareness of the need to all do our bit to return our country to being clean and green. How are we supposed to educate tourists to our country to heed our litter laws? And when at almost every turn of every road, and in every parking area across the country, there’s evidence that littering is acceptable and that if the locals don’t care, why should we?

Well, it’s not acceptable, and we do care! And it’s up to every one of us to do our bit, to always dispose of our rubbish in a responsible manner. To pick up and dispose of litter that crosses our path and to ensure that others don’t litter. And it’s ok to report anyone who dumps illegally. You’ve just got to catch them first.

End.

Thanks for reading.

If you enjoyed reading this post, please Share with your friends and family on your favourite Social Media site on the links below.

I look forward to reading and responding to your Comments. So, if you have anything to say about my views and opinions on this post or other posts on my website, please enter your Comments below.

Also, if you would like to keep updated on my new posts, you are most welcome to Subscribe to my mailing list.

I’d be honoured to hear from you.

Cheers,

June.