Anti-littering campaign kicks off
A new anti-littering campaign has been launched after a week-long cleanup collected enough rubbish to fill 120 rugby fields.
The campaign is the first of its kind that Keep New Zealand Beautiful has launched since the 1990s.
Chief executive Heather Saunderson said it was hoped it would instil the ‘‘be a tidy Kiwi’’ mantra in a new generation.
The campaign also aims to highlight new findings on the top litter items in public places, and Kiwis’ worst littering habits.
The national litter behaviour research, commissioned by Keep New Zealand Beautiful, found nearly all Kiwis think it is important for New Zealand to maintain its clean, green image.
However, almost half of those surveyed littered even when within 5 metres of the nearest bin.
The average distance New Zealanders were prepared to walk to a bin was 8.4 metres, with littering rising dramatically beyond that distance.
Cigarette butts constituted 78 per cent of litter, followed by takeaway packaging, which made up 5 per cent.
Saunderson said the campaign wasn’t about naming and shaming smokers, but about educating the public on how their littering habits contributed to the problem.
The campaign will be fronted by a boisterous character named Mama Nature, played by Kiwi comedian David Fane.
Saunderson said it was great to see New Zealanders took such pride in their country, however the organisation would be doing more work to reach a holistic view of the litter problem.
The next stage of the litter prevention project will involve physically inspecting litter in areas such as motorways, rest stops, residential streets, beaches, and rural and industrial locations.
The study was conducted by Sunshine Yates Consulting Ltd over 32 days with researchers observing 765 people and their littering behaviour.
The Auckland, Canterbury, and Wellington regions were all included in the study, with Aucklanders coming out as the dirtiest Kiwis for littering in public places.
Wellingtonians were the least likely to litter of the three, Saunderson said.