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Tossers are being put on notice in an ongoing campaign to tackle the scourge of litter in the Eurobodalla.
As a member of the Canberra Region Joint Organisation, Eurobodalla Shire Council has partnered with the NSW Environment Protection Authority for the Hey Tosser campaign - which sends a clear message: tossing litter is not acceptable.
Council has installed ‘Hey Tosser’ banners in Batemans Bay and Narooma and will distribute free car litter bags with brochures at service stations, visitor information centres and other visitor hotspots.
The brochures detail how to report littering from vehicles to the EPA via an app or the EPA website.
Once an act of littering is reported, the EPA can take action.
Eurobodalla Shire Council rangers can also issue fines for littering.
Council’s waste minimisation officer Belinda Wagner said littering was an ongoing issue in the Eurobodalla.
“By partnering with other councils in the region the ‘Hey Tosser’ summer campaign is a coordinated approach that will reinforce the message throughout the region,” she said.
Littering damages our beautiful natural environment, harms wildlife and sea life and costs NSW councils millions of dollars each year.
- Belinda Wagner
“The campaign aims to reduce rubbish in problem areas and educate the community and visitors about the impacts.
“Littering damages our beautiful natural environment, harms wildlife and sea life and costs NSW councils millions of dollars each year.
“Reporting a tosser helps raise awareness, reduces clean-up costs and deters people from littering, thus keeping our roadsides clean.”
According to the EPA, around 25,000 tonnes of litter is tossed in NSW each year.
The highest volume of littered items in NSW is beverage and takeaway containers and print and advertising material, while the biggest hot spots are industrial sites, highways and car parks.
Readers have also reported dumping at numerous popular tourist sites throughout the shire.
Most recently a Wamban resident said she was horrified to find campers had left the Burra Creek Nature Reserve, west of Moruya, littered with rubbish and even human faeces.
If you witnesses littering, including rubbish being thrown out of car windows, report it immediately to the EPA website, google ‘Hey Tosser’, or click the link on council’s waste services webpage. For more information about council’s waste services call 02 4474 1024.
