Litter by Little: We should all pick up a piece of litter a day - every day

Wednesday, 19 September 2018

Our national addiction means more plastic and non-biodegradable rubbish is making its way into our waterways and other environments.

Today we launch Litter by Little, our campaign to reduce the amount of rubbish around us.

OPINION: It's easy to ignore, but it's there, and we should all play our part to get rid of it.

I'm talking about litter, trash, garbage, waste.

Call it what you like, but we should not walk by when we see it.

* Litter by little: New Zealand's 'unhealthy culture' for plastic is increasing - and so is litter

David Baker from Foxton takes to the beach with bags and gloves to pick up rubbish.

* Elderly man keeps Tirau Tidy

* Calling on people to stop littering**

That's why we're launching our Litter by Little campaign today, where we encourage everyone who sees litter to pick up at least a piece a day, every day.

This isn't just a feelgood exercise to make our streets, beaches and walking areas look pretty. Picking up litter means one less item that could make its way to our waterways, including our beautiful harbour, our beaches, or any other environment.

And as litter crusader Alan Samson shows us, it can even be beneficial to your own health.

In our series we'll look at how bad our litter problem is, what the 'main offender' items are, but we'll also show what people can do at the individual level to make a big difference with a small effort.

We will look at overseas examples that work in reducing what rubbish causes the most problems - and it's not just plastic.

Of course, we must reduce the amount of rubbish that we create, but we must also collectively take responsibility for it when it's not properly disposed of.

Changing habits can be hard, but together we can make a huge difference by picking up a piece a day; Litter by little.

PICK, PIC AND BIN

Please join us in making our environment a cleaner, better place. Pick up some litter, email us a photo and caption, and join the Litterati Photo Gallery.

We'll update the gallery daily to recognise all the good sorts making a difference.

Captions should include your name, along with location and date of rubbish pick-up. And please add any other information you think relevant or interesting. Email us at wellington@stuff.co.nz

Eric Janssen, editor, The Dominion Post