Teacher Preparation

Students will...

... understand the social implications of littering
... begin to take responsibility for unwanted food packaging
... will rethink the concept of why people litter.

Students can...

... explain how and why people litter
... explain how littering can impact our environment.

Teacher content information: To litter is to illegally dispose of waste, whether intentionally or by accident. In the past, it was legal to throw waste into the street.

This became a problem when people began living in close proximity as cities developed during the Industrial Revolution of the 1800s. Unsanitary disposal of waste encouraged the breeding of insects and rats that carried disease rapidly through the urban population. The government took action to remove rubbish from city streets to prevent the spread of disease.

Today, there are laws against littering in each State and Territory of Australia. The anti-litter laws not only protect us from the spread of disease but also protect the environment and amenities.

What are the impacts of littering?

The actions of an individual litterbug impact the whole community.

Environmental impacts: Waterways can become polluted from litter. Hazardous substances can leach from items like batteries and accumulate in the bodies of aquatic animals and their predators. Birds can become trapped in plastic bags and suffocate. Turtles and whales can become entangled in littered fishnets and drown. Mammals and birds can mistake litter for food, and choke during ingestion. Animals that rely upon clean water to drink can become sick from pollution. On land, an apple core thrown into the bush can promote the spread of weeds that degrade the habitat of endangered species. A cigarette butt thrown out the car window can cause uncontrollable wildlife, killing native fauna and flora.
Human health Impacts: Humans cannot swim in polluted waterways. Indigenous communities cannot access clean water from polluted waterways and cannot consume fish they catch from polluted watercourses. People can step upon used needles and contract diseases. Items falling from the back of vehicles can cause traffic accidents. Litter can block the drainage system and cause flooding during heavy rain. Flooded drains can endanger human lives and provide an ideal breeding ground for disease-carrying insects such as mosquitoes in tropical climates.
Economic Impacts: It is estimated that it takes as much money to clean up litter as it does to collect waste from rubbish bins and take it to landfill. When beaches are littered with cigarette butts, tourist businesses can suffer. An oil spill – even if it is an accident – destroys the livelihood of fishermen.

How much litter is in Australia?

Every year since 1990, Australians have removed rubbish and litter from the natural environment on Clean Up Australia Day. In 2013 an estimated 550,300 volunteers removed 16,150 tonnes of rubbish at 7,341 sites right across the country.

The single most common litter item in Australia is the cigarette butt. Other common forms of litter include paper, food wrappers, fast-food packaging, bottle caps, glass pieces, glass alcohol bottles, plastic straws and soft drink bottles.

Item	Time to break down in the environment
Glass bottles	1,000,000 years
Plastic bags	up to 1,000 years
Aluminium cans	80-100 years
Plastic containers	20-30 years
Cigarette butts	1-5 years
Orange & banana peels	2-5 weeks

Why do people litter?

Some of the explanations offered as to why people litter include:

They don’t understand the impact of their actions on the environment
They think they won’t get into trouble because they see that anti-litter laws are not often enforced
They think that there is already a lot of litter at a site so their contribution will make no difference
They believe that it is okay to litter if there is no bin provided
They think it is okay to put litter onto an overflowing bin because, although it is clear that the litter item will escape, they have followed the rules
They think the item does not constitute litter because, for example, it is a biodegradable piece of fruit
They see their peers litter so they think it is okay to do the same
They do not care about the environment because it is not their personal property

There are two main values that underlie the litterbug’s actions.

Lack of personal responsibility
In most cases, people do not ‘trash’ their own homes or personal property, but they may litter in public areas. The litterbug believes that they are not responsible for the health and safety of the community.

Litter has no value
The litterbug would never throw money out the window but might throw away lolly wrappers or old shoes because they are no longer needed. Even if the litterbug changed their ways and put food wrappers in the bin responsibly, is this enough? We need to consider whether what we throw away has a resource value.

Clean Up Australia Day is built on very different values. It is built on the idea that Australians are jointly responsible for the state of our environment.

Aluminium cans are a good example of a commonly littered item with an important resource value. The waste pyramid tells us to refuse, reduce, reuse and recycle in that order. In South Australia, people can pick up littered aluminium cans and other beverage containers and receive cash upon returning them for recycling. There is less incentive for people to litter cans in the first place because they are worth money. This system is called a container deposit scheme.

Clean Up Australia - Play the Litterbug

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