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10,000 Reasons to Keep Our Roadsides Mouth Litter FREE!

By Kelly Noble

Posted on August 20, 2012

Keep Australia Beautiful Week commences today (Monday 20^th August).

This year the focus will be on motorists and roadside litter.

KESAB environmental solutions (Keep South Australia Beautiful) and RAA have joined together to support KAB Week by making available 10,000 Car Tidy Bags (10,000 Reasons) to Keep Our Roadside.. Mouth Litter FREE!

According to John Phillips, Executive Director of KESAB, South Australian roadsides are amongst the State’s worst littered areas based on regular Litter Index counts at over 150 sites across the State.

“Of all the sites we regularly monitor – roads and highways come out the worst”, Mr Phillips stated.

“Roadside litter is bad for business and the tourist experience, it damages fragile roadside environments, many of which contain rare and threatened species and in coastal areas, litter travels through the stormwater system to pollute our creeks and oceans, causing harm to all forms of marine life including our birds, whales and dolphins.”

“Roadside litter is a reflection on a society that likes to eat, drink and smoke in their vehicle,” he said.

Around two thirds of what KESAB counts along our roadsides is now described as mouth litter ie; food, drink or cigarette related – food, drink and cigarettes go into the mouth and anything not wanted, including packaging and cigarette butts, is disposed of illegally through the vehicle window.

KESAB says that one way to reduce road litter is to encourage motorists to carry a car tidy bag of some sort to keep their travel (mouth) litter inside their vehicle until a suitable bin for disposal can be found.

To coincide with Keep Australia Beautiful Week, KESAB and RAA are making 10,000 car tidy bags available to the travelling public. KESAB would like motorists to call into any of RAA’s 22 South Australian outlets and pick up a free car tidy bag.

“Based on take-away convenience food packaging alone (straws, lids, cups and carry bags) and improved behaviour by motorist, there is potential to reduce roadside litter by hundreds of thousands of pieces over night”’ said Phillips.

Less Litter – Travelling Tips.

Always carry a car tidy bag of some sort when travelling. Taking your rubbish home helps to keep public bins from overflowing and makes it possible to sort out any recyclables.

Take a break – Stop, Revive and Survive – eat at roadside rest areas or restaurants and use the bins and amenities there.

If you are a smoker use your vehicle ash tray or carry a container for cigarette butts. Butts thrown from vehicles can cause bush fires or harm animals when ingested.

Food scraps are litter too. Wildlife risk injury when eating food scraps discarded near roadways. Bin your food scraps or take them home for composting.

When travelling, carry a metal trowel in case you get caught short and there are no toilets. Bury waste/paper/tissues etc. Non degradable sanitary items and nappies should be taken home or binned.