How many people today grab a takeaway coffee cup from the local cafe to drink on the go? We don’t know, but the number must be enormous.. Most every one of the above have a plastic top that will last 100s of years. Some cafes still use plastic cups that last a similar time. Is 10 minutes of coffee worth 100s of years of trash?
These items can be seen littering our gutters and on our streets all over the place. If they were all cardboard, they would still be littered, but they would, at least, be gone in a short time.
They do not need to be made of plastic.
On the way home from the gym last week, a distance of about 1 km (1/2 mile), I counted the items of plastic litter on the curb as I walked. In that short distance I counted 63 pieces of plastic litter. Plastic drink bottles, bottle tops, candy wrappers, plastic film, polystyrene fragments etc. That seemed to be a lot to me. I guess it is a generational thing. Our parents would have been horrified to see that amount, whereas it seems to go unnoticed by our youth of today. In another 20 years how many pieces will there be on this stretch, -- 200? What will today’s youth think of that new amount then when they are older? Will their children be so readily accepting of a higher amount of litter? 
Introduction of a bottle deposit scheme
Posted on February 3, 2012 by DrRossH in Plastic Limiting RegulationsWith 91% of a public vote in Victoria Australia, supporting a bill to clean up plastic bottle litter, why do politicans support a lobby from industry who oppose it purely for their own profits. This bill if passed by these politicians, would increase plastic bottle recycling by approx 300%. It would create a good number of jobs with people operating the recycling stations and transporting the bottles back to recycling facilities. The proceeds fund numerous community groups like the Scouts and sports clubs, plus provide some income for people who would collect litter for the deposit refund and lets not forget clean up our roadsides, beaches and parks substantially from plastic litter. These are all good things politicians like to stand on their soap boxes and say they have been responsible for implementing. So why are the listening to a lobbying effort from industry to not pass this bill? Should politicians not be listening to the 91% of their constituency?
Steve says:
Post Author February 7, 2012 at 6:03 pmRight on! Cash for containers increases recycling and reduces litter. It’s time for other states to follow SA and NT. Even better, it’s time for the country to pass a national deposit program.