Litter campaign launched as survey reveals best and worst litter suburbs in Ku-ring-gai
An independent audit has identified Ku-ring-gai’s best and worst locations for litter – and the Council is responding.
The audit of Wahroonga, Turramurra, Gordon, St Ives, Lindfield and Roseville was conducted by an independent contractor engaged by the Council earlier this year.
‘Hot spots’ such as car parks near highways and train stations and local shopping centres were checked for litter, with Roseville coming out on top for being the cleanest Ku-ring-gai suburb and Wahroonga identified as the worst offender for litter.
Smokers are the main culprits with cigarette butts the most prolific litter item, followed by chewing gum, takeaway food wrappers and drink containers.
In a 48 square metre area in Wahroonga’s shopping centre for example, a total of 127 litter items were counted during the audit including 66 cigarette butts.
As a result, the Council is stepping up its response to litter with the installation of extra litter bins with cigarette butt receptacles and an awareness raising campaign.
Mayor Jennifer Anderson said new litter bins had already been installed in Wahroonga and Turramurra.
“From December we’ll be persuading people to do the right thing through a combination of posters in participating shops, stickers on bins and being present at large events such as the Wahroonga Food & Wine Fair.”
“Town centres that have high levels of cigarette butt litter tend to attract other types of litter and can have a devastating effect on our environment. For example, cigarette butts leach toxins into our waterways which can kill native marine life.”
For more information about the litter-free Ku-ring-gai campaign, visit www.kmc.nsw.gov.au and type Litter Free Ku-ring-gai in the search field.
