I had a rubbish conversation at a recent luncheon.
A gentleman and I agreed the amount of rubbish visible around Sydney is atrocious. He wondered whether I believed the South Australian practice of a cash refund on can and bottle deposits made a difference to roadside litter. I had to say it does. The SA practice of rewarding those people who deposit cans/bottles/cartons is actually very rewarding and after just one week of living in Sydney, I am sure it would make a difference here too. My daughters and I have taken a few walks around our new neighborhood and I have had to stop them collecting the empty bottles we have come across. Why were they in the practice of collecting random rubbish you ask? Well I do have to blame thank my mother-in-law, who would collect bottles and cans whilst taking her grand-daughters for walks around our old hometown. The baby-stroller basket was not utilised for nappy-bags and spare jumpers, rather dog leads and a place to stash cans and bottles from locations as varied as the local park, school grounds, roadside and forest tracks.
I thought perhaps I was being a bit too harsh on Sydney-siders, so I took extra notice of what constituted my local litter. Hmm, a random sock left at the playground (mum will be peeved), a glob of what I hoped was lunchtime cling wrap, and some bottles. Just how many bottles? Thirteen. Yes, you read the correctly, 13 bottles spotted in a casual stroll around the local park. Now admittedly the park encompasses a small sports field and my stroll did take place on a Sunday afternoon, which I presume is the day following a local rugby match. But seriously? 13 bottles? Two Mt Franklin, six Powerade, three soft drink, a pop-top and an errant vodka bottle (we will ignore the freebie Telstra water bottle that "David's" mum will be looking for come match-day this weekend). In the mind of an outsider, that equates to $1.30 just laying around.
Yep, an easy buck thirty.
And I told my girls not to pick them up.
Why you ask? I obviously took enough notice to count them, aren't I then, just as bad as the litterers themselves, ignoring the rubbish and just stepping over it? Well, I guess I was. That and the fact that there were no bins (rubbish or recycling) in sight. That would mean trying to bundle up 13 bottles covered in various amounts of grot into my jumper (when will I learn that Sydney has a very warm climate??) and lug them all the way home.
But you know what? Stuff it. From now on we will collect the bottles. I will just put another plastic bag (oh wait, another thing - what's with still having plastic bags everywhere? Isn't that so 1999??) into my little doggie-bag (designed for doggie-do-bags) and collect them as we walk. Yes, I know there is no magical recycling depot at the end of the Sydney rainbow, but at least the bottles and cans will be off the street. And that makes me happy.
You still wont catch me collecting the bottle filled with dubious looking yellow-coloured liquid though.
I have heard too many truckers’ tales to fall for that one.
