Rubbish Everywhere - What hope is there

Some people just couldn't care less where they leave their rubbish. Most 4WDers leave an area as clean or cleaner than what they found it, but sadly a lot of the younger generation don't seem to have the same standards.

While kayaking around the Noosa river system we often pick up floating rubbish discarded by others.

Peter,

Good on you for bringing this up. I can not believe the use&abuse method used by some and if not this, the absolute laziness to just drop rubbish instead of make the miniscule effort to dispose of correctly. Imagine what their houses must look like.

Keep up the good work

Greg

Unfortunately it seems to be a sign of the times .... they seem to think it is somebody elses job to keep the bush clean.
We always seem to have to spend a fair bit of our first days camping cleaning up the site, even unserviced remote bush sites. What really irks me is that people seem to think if you throw it on the fire, thats the end of it, bottles, steel & aluminium cans, broken camping chairs & God knows what else.
We always bring home more rubbish than we make.
I know 4wd's don't create all the rubbish, but, it is hard to believe that motorbikes can take in chairs & Engels ... so it's no wonder we get the blame.
Surely the time has come that if we see someone leave a campsite in a disgusting mess, we just take down the rego number & report them, I know it's not the Aussie way, but we will all suffer if this blatant disregard for the environment doesn't stop.

BTW, I am certainly far from being a 'Greenie', but enough is enough!

It is not just Australia or the bush...it is a world wide phenomenon.

Lack of education is the main contributor to our wastefulness. It should be taught nin schools from an early age to be mindful of the environment we live in. After all we are part of the eco-system...something that few people recognise.

We have to go back to the root cause of the rubbish. Our civilization has evolved into a consumer orientated society. Almost everything we buy is plastic wrapped or paper wrapped. 50%(I am taking this figure out of the air) of us may do the 'right' thing and recycle our rubbish by taking it with us to rubbish disposal bins or dumps and 50% of us may just discard our rubbish by the wayside. 10% of rubbish is created by the overfilling of bins and the lack of local authorities to clean up their areas. Drive along any highway in Aus and see the that the bins provided are full or overflowing and have not been serviced for a while.

The corporate world is to blame for our mess as they carry on without regard for the environment and we perpetuate our hunger for more and more stuff by accumulating stuff and creating the waste product of rubbish.

Only proper education will save the day.........

A-men-brother, never a true word spoken !!
Before I get hailed down, I am generalising but over the
past 30yrs of going bush from " My Experience" the
"NOW" generation think its someone elses problem.
We had the "Baby Boomers" (and proud of it) then
X generation, now
Y generation - Y me, Y do i have to do that, Y doesn't anyone
understand ?????
Another proud Aussie - but getting sick of cleaner up after others !!!!
What about "TOILET" waste, we could spend hours on that one !!!
Cheers all c ya 4x4ing somewhere

I joined the Keep Australia Beautiful Council as a voluntary ranger.
Take down number plates and all other relevant details and dob 'em in where possible.

It may well be an education thing and a generation thing, but it might just be our generation that hasn't passed it on to the younger generation also. Either through poor parenting or poor educating. I believe each and every one of us has a part to play in changing the situation.

I am quite proud of the fact that none of my friends or family contribute to this problem and that their kids are being taught the right way at least but there's so many others who aren't doing the right thing it's frightens me to think what a pile of crap we'll be living in in the years to come.

Good points everyone but I firmly believe that most users of this site aren't in the offending category. I still believe that we have a role to play though and hopefully most of us will do this for the sake of all the other ignorant people.

Guys

Rather then generation bashing and pointing fingers, why don't you grab your kids/grandkids and join in Clean up australia day next march. Clean up other people's rubish. It would be nice if everyone would follow the rule
"take nothing but memories, leave nothing but thanks". But ALL people are just not like that ALL the time.

Life was never meant to be easy or equal and some people will syphon the system for all it's worth. That's life.

Lead by example.

R.

Well said, I think it is not so much the age of the people but the age in which we are living.

This is the importance of going bush. Learning and teaching (my children) how to live with nature rather than exploit it. More people live in the cities now than ever and are used to coucils etc cleaning up after them. Becasue often they don't stay long in the bush they don't have to live with the consequences of their dumping of rubbish. This lot is usually the ones with the tv video and boom box in the scrub.

My only hope is that if they go often enough they will "get it "eventually. In the mean time, we have to clean up after them, because they will not be back.

I love dishwashers but I still teach my children to clean up after themselves. Lean how to be self sufficient, not waiting for someone to do it forthem.

I still get anoyed when I roll in somewhere and it is a mess.

What can you do but clean it up.

Skinny

Well gang good to see emotions got stirred up. I agree with all of the responses to my original post, most notably the "how we are brought up" analogy.

I have travelled the world extensively and ignorance to the consequences of toxifying the environment we live in is the most wide spread problem. It amazes me that people can defacate in the water source that sustains them and then be surprised that they have no drinking water in the future. Unbelievable but true, this happens in developed countries as well as the third world.

I am involved in the mining industry so understand the ability to have sustainable development. I am not a tree hugger, but support the actions of the well informed Mr Bob Brown in Tasmania. If we all get on board and support the green enetrprises in areas like the Amazon rain forrest, which isnt unlike Tassies issue, then we will all be able to leave the world for our kids in a habitable state.

If the majority take the approach that "my crap left on the ground this once wont matter" then our Breed will become extinct.....at some stage. Does anyone remember the term baby steps....little by little we can make a difference.

Phew.....Now i do feel like a tree hugger....By the way if anyone is interested have a google on Freeport and Southern Peru Copper to see what has happened in the past to water courses...

Cheers Pete