SCRAPPY Activities
Activity 2/6
Litter Facts!!
Between 700,000 and 1,000,000 seabirds are
killed from entanglement or ingestion of rubbish
each year worldwide (unep.org)
Three times as much rubbish is dumped into the
world’s oceans annually as the weight of fish
caught (oceanservice.noaa.gov)
Around 7.2 million cigarette butts are littered
across Australia each year - if placed end to end
they would circle the planet 3.6 times
(resourcesmart.vic.gov.au)
Litter Litter
Everywhere
Preventing litter is everybody’s responsibility.
Make sure to always do the right thing and put your
rubbish in the bin!
Not many people realise that when rubbish falls to the ground it is
harmful to the environment, and can have long lasting consequences.
Litter can stay in an ecosystem for decades!
Littering is against the law and you can receive on
the spot fines between $60 - $375 for littering.
Litter is an important environmental issue that we all must face. Litter
This includes even the smallest pieces of rubbish - such as cigarette butts, plastic bags and other plastics can harm animal
so don’t be a tosser. Put it in the bin!
and plant life by polluting the area they live in, causing entanglement or
chocking
if eaten. Some litter such as cigarette butts can be toxic and
Busy modern lifestyles have allowed people to eat can change
the water quality and pH of a river or lake.
more foods on the go, this increases the potential
to litter in more places, more often
Litter from the Hawkesbury can end up in the Hawkesbury-Nepean
River, dams, creeks, national parks and other bushland areas, farmland
In the broad expanse of the northern Pacific
and can even end up in the ocean as it travels through our waterways.
Ocean, there exists the world’s largest ‘landfill’
known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. The
floating dump covers an area one and a half times Litter damages the environment and is a major social problem
the size of the USA. About 90% of the rubbish
because it:
found here is plastic.
• Reduces the aesthetic appeal of public places by making our streets,
(greatpacificgarbagepatch.info)
parks, and waterways look dirty and unhealthy;
•
Will
kill plants and animals through choking and strangulation;
1
• Can block drains and cause local flooding;
Source: United Nations Environment Programme, National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration- National Ocean Service, Sustainability Victoria, Great Pacific Garbage
• Pollute local swimming areas;
Patch
• Can be a fire hazard;
• Is a lost resource - items such as plastic containers and bottles,
aluminium cans, and paper are all recyclable and cannot be recovered
through the recycling system when littered;
• Is dangerous to people i.e. syringes, broken glass and sharp metal;
• Costs the community a lot of time and money to clean up.
IMPACTS OF LITTER
SCRAPPY Ac
Activities
Low waste lunch - Take the
challenge!
Reducing packaging such as cling wrap, plastic bags and wrappers in your lunch box is a great way to avoid litter
in the playground, as sometimes bins can overflow and wind, rain and even animals can move litter around.
Think about each part of your lunch and
recess: your sandwich - is it wrapped in
glad wrap? chip packets? juice boxes?
Now think about the rubbish you throw
away from each part of your meal
everyday; it works out to be quite a lot
doesn't it? Why not take the ‘Low Waste
Lunch Challenge’! The aim of a low waste
lunch is to make less rubbish, and to be
able to reuse containers, cutlery and
bottles so you throw less stuff away.
Low waste lunches reduce your rubbish,
so less waste ends up in landfill! They are
not only good for the environment, but
they are less expensive as well!
Reusable lunch box with separate
compartments
Drink in a reusable cup or in a
reusable bottle
Sandwich is kept fresh in a lunch
box - no need for plastic wrap!
Take a whole piece of fruit instead
of canned or pre-packaged fruit
Use the separate lunch box
compartments to store nuts,
vegetables or dried fruit
Perhaps a little treat? But it
doesn't need to be wrapped
up in plastic!
Packing a Low Waste Lunch - What would you pick?
Circle the items you would choose to put in your low waste lunch!
You need: a sandwich, fruit, a drink and a treat!
Apple
Reusable drink bottle
Packet of chips
Sandwich in plastic bag
Sandwich in reusable
container
Fruit in plastic bag
Disposable drink
carton
Cookies in reusable
container
For more information visit www.hawkesbury.nsw.gov.au/environment/waste-and-recycling