Dumping: ‘a macabre testimony of laziness’ – conservationist, Angus Burns weighs in

“Illegal littering and dumping is still a significant problem around Newcastle and most of South Africa. Being a person who travels a lot, I see it first-hand: plastic bags, cans, bottles, cigarette butts, and food wrapping discarded everywhere,” said Burns.

In some areas he said, rubbish is blown by the wind against barbed wire fences and ‘gathers on them like a macabre testimony to the laziness of humans.’

“And it is about laziness—the fact that someone can’t be bothered to discard their rubbish in a way that doesn’t affect others or the environment is an example of how inconsiderate and idle a person can be.”

Closer to home he said he had witnessed many examples of people leaving bottles, garden rubbish, building rubble, and, of course, plastic in areas such as Signal Hill and at the Amcor dam.

He said, that in most of our open spaces, people are dumping and littering seemingly without any concern for their actions and associated implications.

Some claim their littering doesn’t have any real impact, but here are just a few examples of what it actually does, said Burns:

• Cigarette butts can take from 18 months to 10 years to decompose, and given the sheer volume of them being produced by smokers, they have a massive environmental impact, especially when they reach water bodies such as dams and oceans, choking and killing the creatures that accidentally consume them while polluting the water they are in with toxic chemicals.
• Plastic bags and bottles can take between 10 and 1000 years to break down! In the meantime, wildlife, domestic animals, and livestock accidentally consume them, become physically trapped, or choke on them. A local community member told me of a cow that died a horrifically slow death and, after an autopsy was performed, was found to have many plastic bags obstructing its stomach. Imagine the unnecessary pain it endured because of our laziness.
• Glass bottles trap smaller creatures inside them, can cause grassland fires when they accidentally magnify light through them and also present a serious health hazard to wildlife, humans, domestic animals, and livestock when they break, causing terrible injuries.

Burns said all of this can be avoided by simply not littering or dumping.

“Keep your rubbish to yourself and discard it at a registered landfill site, or better yet, recycle what you can first before responsibly disposing of the rest. As a closing thought, please remember that your litter is not a job creator, but recycling certainly is!”

Here are five ideas to help reduce this problem in Newcastle:

• Sort your litter at home into plastics, bottles, cans, and organic waste. Then dispose of it via any of the recycling initiatives when they are available and operational in Newcastle.
• Report people and companies that dump; they are spoiling the town and its beautiful environment for everyone.
• Make others aware of the issue. If you are with a group of friends somewhere outdoors and they throw their litter on the ground, tell them to pick it up and throw it in a bin at home.
• Don’t throw your cigarette butts out of your car window or on the street; collect them in your ashtray and dispose of them in a bin.
• If you are somewhere outdoors and see a bottle left carelessly behind, do your bit to help and pick it up, then take it home and throw it in a bin or recycle.

ALSO READ: Newcastle’s ‘dirty’ image as illegal dumping and littering persists

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