Change starts with you

There has never been a better time to take to our streets as Victorian single-use rubbish counts increase.

The 2018 Clean Up Australia Rubbish Report, compiled each year from data submitted by Clean Up volunteers, found that beverage containers were reported in higher quantities in Victoria than the national average.

Plastic was once again the number one type of rubbish reported, comprising 37% of the major sources of rubbish. Although a welcome 5% decrease over the previous year, and 2% below the national average of 39%, it still presents a major problem.

Terrie-Ann Johnson, Managing Director of Clean Up Australia, warns that single-use plastics, with their inability to decompose, will, unless we take action today, continue to impact our environment, our natural heritage and ultimately human health.

Thirty years ago, Ian Kiernan AO predicted the problems that single-use plastics would pose. Since then we have seen ever-increasing dependence on plastic as a throw-away item and that needs to change. The choice is simple, take action or plastics will continue to be a problem well into the future,” said TerrieAnn.

Litter directly associated with single use food packaging made up 58.6% of the rubbish reported by Victorian Clean Up volunteers, 2.9% above the national average. Of this, food packaging represented 21.8% of the rubbish count, beverage containers 20.1%, beverage rubbish 10.1% and chips and confectionary wrappers 6.6%.

The 2018 Report directly supports the need for us all to think about how we can switch from single use packaging.

“Change starts with you – and we need to make smarter choices every day,” said Terrie-Ann.

What is also disappointing to note is that beverage containers, as a percentage of all rubbish reported across Victoria increased by 2.6% over the previous year. This is now 2.8% above the NSW figure and 9.6% above South Australia, neighbouring States that are currently implementing successful container deposit schemes.

“We know that container deposit schemes work in Australia, so it’s time that the Victorian Government accepted the statistics and implemented container deposit legislation.”

We need to reduce the amount of rubbish we produce as individuals and take simple actions such as carrying our reusable bags, replacing single use beverage cups and choosing products that are not over packaged.

Smokers also need to get smarter with cigarette butts coming up as the item most counted by Clean Up volunteers at 15.2% of the individual item count. While this is a welcome decrease of 3.4% over 2017, it is 1% higher than the national figure.

Most smokers are unaware of how cigarette butts impact our environment.

“The core of most cigarette filters is a form of plastic called cellulose acetate which is very slow to degrade, taking anything from 18 months to 10 years to break up. These filters are also full of toxins, which can leach into the ground and waterways, damaging living organisms that come into contact with them,” said Terrie-Ann.

“We all need to take responsibility for our choices.”

While parks were the most popular site surveyed in 2018, waterways and beach/coastal areas recorded the highest percentage of total waste and school grounds yielded the highest average number of items across the state.

Clean Up Australia is a notfor-profit community based organisation founded by Ian Kiernan AO in 1989 to inspire and work with communities to clean up, fix up and conserve our environment.

Clean Up Australia is dedicated to developing sustainable solutions and addressing the critical issues that face us in the areas of waste, degrading waterways and landscapes. It provides a practical framework and support for all individuals to make a positive and effective contribution to the health of our environment.

For 30 years Australians have joined together to Clean Up Australia. During this time, over 16 million Australians have donated more than 33 million hours, removing the equivalent of 350,000 ute-loads of rubbish from more than 178 thousand locations across the country.

Since 1993 millions of people around the globe have also heeded the call under the banner of Clean Up the World, the global initiative the United Nations asked Kiernan to create and oversee.

This year-round campaign engages an estimated 35 million volunteers in 130 countries annually, making it the largest communitybased environmental campaign in the world.

The Victorian Report

The 28th Annual Rubbish Report is a snapshot of rubbish removed by volunteers across Victoria during 2018

Data = that returned by volunteers as part of their End of Clean Up Report, recording counts across 82 items

In 2018, 111 reports were returned, providing valid data across 153 locations [10.4%]

430 bags were sorted by volunteers [39%] of rubbish reported at surveyed sites

Clean Up Australia shares the data from the rubbish report with the CSIRO which uses it to help map litter hotspots reflecting the influence of weather and other events.

“We still have a way to go to Clean Up Australia, so remember change starts with you!”

To register or join a 2019 Clean Up site go to: http://cleanupaustraliaday.or g.au Rubbish