Edition 29, February 2012
Welcome to litterALLY, the eNews for anti-litter campaigners.
Litter Champion Candyce Presland on vacation in New York – litter is a global issue.
In this edition we feature another three Litter Prevention Officers appointed last year by Victorian Councils - namely Bass Coast Shire, City of Kingston and City of Darebin.
There's no doubt that this EPA Victoria funded program is making a mark on the litter reduction scene, as well as confirming the litter prevention models promoted by the Victorian Litter Action Alliance and EPA.
Implementation of Public Place Recycling (PPR) grants are also getting runs on the board, such as the Monash Shopping Village PPR project by Monash City Council, which produced an almost immediate improvement in recycling rates.
Other topics include highlights from the 2010 Victorian Litter Report, the next round of Keep Australia Beautiful Victoria Awards, and an introduction to Stan Krpan, Sustainability Victoria's recently appointed Chief Executive Officer (CEO).
In all that you do on the litter front - keep good records, take lots of photographs, write up what you've learnt - and then tell me about it! We would love to feature your achievements in litterALLY.
Candyce Presland
VLAA Litter Champion
Project managed by Sustainability Victoria
Victorian Litter Action Alliance (VLAA) Web Redevelopment Update
A big thanks to readers and VLAA members for their feedback so far on the draft web pages and PDF litter kits that we have been working on.
The feedback has been a great help for our "remote checking" process and the latest round of edits and alterations to the draft site.
At this stage, we just want to be sure the new website's logic and written content suits everyone. The next stage is to populate the site with new and better resources, such as downloadable, litter kits in PDF format and better illustrative photos and images.
The new website includes a section dedicated to case studies now - readers may find this useful right away.
Take the Web Evaluation Survey
The new website is far from finished, but it is at a good stage for a brief evaluation by the ultimate users you.
So, please visit the draft VLAA website, make a few notes, and then do our three minute survey.
When you get to the survey, we also recommend that you have the website open in another browser, and use your toggling skills.
Litter Prevention Officer (LPO) Update #2
In 2011 an inaugural nine LPOs were appointed by Victorian Councils.
The Litter Champion has been following the progress of recently appointed LPOs in Victorian councils, and in this edition we feature LPOs at Bass Coast/South Gippsland, Darebin and Kingston.
To revisit the LPOs profiled In the last edition, click on a council name to go to the new case studies pageabout Greater Dandenong, Melton or Mildura.
Sharing the responsibility
Let not municipal borders get in the way of an LPO's task.
Leanne Edwards' appointment as LPO is thanks to two adjacent Shire Councils taking a shared approach to litter prevention in their region.
Leanne's patch covers Bass Coast and South Gippsland, with in-kind support and a vehicle provided by the two Councils, plus an additional $4,000 from the Gippsland Regional Waste Management Group.
Leanne Edwards, Litter Prevention Officer (LPO) works with other Bass Coast Shire Council staff on litter reduction strategies, flanked by colleagues from Waste Management and the Community Safety teams.
Coordination across borders
Leanne's ultimate role is to help improve the community's littering behaviours; however it is worth noting that she will also be having a good look at current litter management processes within each council, and the cost of litter in each Shire.
This will not only help streamline litter operations, but will give Leanne solid information to use in public education activities and to inform corporate decision makers about the importance of preventing litter.
Her approach so far has been to link in with what is already happening across each Shire to ensure litter complaints and related issues are handled in a coordinated manner and to look for improved ways to deal with these issues.
Leanne will develop strategic actions and continuous improvements in the respective organisations, and is aiming to reduce the financial and social burden of litter for each Shire and their communities.
Leanne will also prepare a Litter Prevention Strategy for each Shire.
The Three Key Elements
Research by the Victorian Litter Action Alliance has found the three key elements of a litter prevention program need to balance public education, good infrastructure and enforcement.
"An understanding of the 'shared responsibility' principle is one educational message I will be promoting. Locals, tourists and businesses all need to take personal responsibility for their waste materials and 'do the right thing'," Leanne said.
Leanne also points out the importance of understanding the dynamics between education, infrastructure and enforcement activities, and finding the right mix of these for each situation.
Leanne explains, "For instance, in our popular coastal holiday towns we are looking at interconnected issues that influence the amount of litter."
"One aspect is making sure we have the right kind of infrastructure and services in place for the business community, tourists, residents and in open space areas in each township."
"Council enforcement officers can also bring about positive behaviour change where educational campaigns fail to change littering habits. It has already become apparent that many individuals and businesses aren't using the available waste services correctly."
"All of these factors contribute to the litter issues in our region, and I aim to develop appropriate solutions for these litter hotspots."
Targeting Darebin’s Dumpers
Russell Gladigau's appointment as Darebin City Council's Litter Prevention Officer (LPO) in November 2011 was a natural and welcome progression from his previous role as Environment Officer with the council.
Darebin Litter Prevention Officer Russell Gladigau, and an early example of educational material he is preparing.
"I was keen to bust the shackles of a role that was essentially office based" Russell said.
"The LPO position allows me to be more hands on, help clean up the municipality by direct intervention, and provide targeted education about the impact of dumped rubbish and the alternatives for disposing it."
Spotlight on dumpers
Illegal dumping is a major issue in the municipality, which prompted the organisation to seek funding for the LPO position.
In the past financial year, Darebin received around 3,500 reports of dumped rubbish, costing the Council $220,000 for removal and disposal.
Russell's guiding document is the Council's Litter Strategy, which highlights some key activities and objectives for the first year.
Education
Education makes up a large component of this role.
For instance, residents may not be fully aware of the rights, wrongs and options with regard to 'unintentional dumping' on nature strips.
Taking demographic factors into account, key partners in this process are real estate agents, higher learning organisations and the Department of Human Services. This is an example of utilising a number of pathways to ultimately get the message through to those causing the problem.
Hotspots
One of the first things Russell did as LPO was to map out where the dumping hotspots are, based on the previous 12 months data.
A number of these hotspots now have informational signage in six languages, and monitoring indicates that dumping has indeed dropped at these targeted locations.
Darebin also uses CCTV cameras to help catch people dumping. The penalty revenue from these is significant (up to $3,000 per week), which basically pays for the program, and reduces litter.
Response
Another key aspect of the Litter Strategy is to improve response time for acting on dumped rubbish reports.
In the two months since commencing as LPO, Russell has received 350 dumped rubbish reports, issued 65 fines and 18 notices, and by using the "under investigation tape" has caused 120 cubic metres of dumped material taken off Darebin's streets.
Needless to say, Darebin's LPO program is already making a difference.
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The Power of Mass Media
Jonathan Hamilton, Kingston's LPO hands on.
Local government media departments are constantly on the go promoting the good work their councils do, including litter prevention initiatives. But getting national TV is a rare result for good news!
Kingston City Council's Litter Prevention Officer (LPO), Jonathan Hamilton, instigated a trial with covert cameras to detect illegal rubbish dumping.
As much to educate the public as to illustrate Kingston's proactivity, a media release was issued and duly picked up by the local press, but leading to far more exposure than expected after grabbing the attention of The Today Show and Channel 9 News, and broadcast to Australians at large.
Educational PR
The result indicates how effective public relations can be.
After the stories aired, Jonathan recorded a 50% increase in reporting of dumped rubbish. Apparently, the exposure both informed and motivated the community to become part of the solution.
Baseline
Benchmarking and establishing historical data is one of Jonathan's key priorities.
He explains, "Although the TV coverage probably caused the spike in dumping reports, I can't prove that. We don't have the historical data to measure the role of other factors, for instance whether it was also related to the Christmas holiday season at the time."
"In any case, without some form of baseline, it's difficult to measure the success of anything we do."
The Program
Kingston is a large municipality, with a range of land uses, a diverse population, and 13 Km of coastline.
To respond to the city's mix of open spaces and pockets of high density living, the Litter Prevention Program will focus on illegal dumping in green wedge areas and around multi-unit dwellings.
Education is also a priority, and Jonathan is exploring ways of encouraging sustainable practices in the community, such as reducing the use of landfills and attitudes to illegal dumping.
So, what's next on Jonathan's list?
"I'm looking forward to coordinating Kingston's Clean Up Australia Day on the 4th March, and soon will establish a Litter Taskforce as a forum across council departments."
Recycling gets Results at Monash Shopping Village
New bin designs and well researched positions increased recycling rates almost immediately at Monash Shopping Village in Mt Waverley.
The success of Monash City Council's Public Place Recycling (PPR) project at Monash Shopping Village so early in the implementation is a testament to the research carried out during the months before.
In 2011, Monash Council secured a $25,000 Public Place Recycling grant from the Victorian Government to improve recycling rates in Monash Shopping Village. The Council itself put in another $10,000.
The funds were earmarked for research, then design and installation of a new set of recycling bins for the shopping village at the end of 2011.
Statistics
In terms of research, the Monash team took an approach that illustrates what the Victorian Litter Action Alliance and the litter prevention profession would call best practice.
The program started in August 2011 with a comprehensive litter audit of existing litter bins.
This work indicated that 60% of litter bin contents could have been recycled. In other words, the potential for diversion was significant.
Consultation
Canvassing the views of village businesses was an essential part of the research, especially in terms of determining suitable locations for the new recycling bins, and getting grass roots intelligence on hot spots.
Professional advice from an outdoor furniture specialist and from the Council's own architecture and design people helped get the new recycling bins right and guide redesign of existing ones.
One innovation was to standardise openings for both litter and recycling bins, to streamline the collection process.
The research also showed that existing facilities were not dealing well with larger items such as pizza boxes, so the 'two round circles' arrangement of openings in use was replaced with a larger more linear opening per bin.
Quick results
At the beginning of December 2011, 13 new recycling bins were installed across the shopping village. Here are some results from an audit two weeks later measuring waste disposal over a 24 hour period.
- Less recyclables in litter bins - a 50% drop (from 60% to around 33%).
- Less landfill garbage all round - compared to August, a 75% reduction in disposals into litter bins.
- A great recycling result - of the 50 Kg of waste deposited in litter and recycling bins combined, 80% of it went into recycling bins with very low contamination rates.
A quick result indeed.
2010 Victorian Litter ReportThe 2010 Victorian Litter Report (VLR) is now available on the Sustainability Victoria website.
The fifth report in a series beginning in 2003, the VLR provides information on key indicators of litter reduction in 216 public place locations throughout Victoria.
This information helps to guide programs and facilitate improvements in factors influencing littering behaviour throughout Victoria.
Key findings of the 2010 report indicate that this year's litter prevention performance score represents a 20.3% statewide improvement since litter assessment began in 2003.
The 2010 findings reflect improved scores for general cleanliness of public places, including less illegal dumping and graffiti as well as improved bin design, position and servicing of bins, and better maintenance and cleanliness of street furniture.
The average ground litter count increased to 36 items in 2010, up from 32 items in 2009 but still well below the national target of 42 items set for 2010.
Cigarette butts are the most common type of litter accounting for 50% of all items counted, followed by beverage items (31%) and paper (7%).
Beverage litter has increased steadily from 16% in 2005 to 31% in 2010 (glass bits made up 56% and metal and plastic caps and plastic bits made up 31% of beverage litter counts).
The 2010 results reveal that only 65% of Victorians are disposing of waste into bins in public places indicating that the rate of public littering appears to be trending upwards.
For the full 2010 report, go to the VLR page at Sustainability Victoria.
Contact: Nick Chrisant at Sustainability Victoria: 03 8626 8716, or email
Get Involved in the 2012 Keep Australia Beautiful Victoria Awards