Litter, such as cigarette butts, plastic bags and other plastics, harms animal and marine life in a variety of ways such as water pollution, when these items are mistaken for food and when creatures get caught up in plastics and get strangled.
Litter dropped in our streets travels into our waterways through the stormwater system.
Litter makes an area look dirty and uncared for and attracts more litter. Littered areas are not pleasant to be in and are less likely to be used by people. In contrast, people are more reluctant to litter clean areas.
Litter is a significant cost to the community's resources through participation in Clean Up Australia Day, the Adopt-a-Highway program and other local voluntary initiatives. Cleaning up litter is also a direct financial cost to local and state governments, and therefore to us.
Littered items are a lost resource. When things that could otherwise be recycled, like PET, glass bottles and paper, are littered, they do not end up in the recycling stream.
We must significantly reduce the amount of litter in our environment to protect the health, safety and visual quality of the environment, people and wildlife.
