Kiama council has launched a new campaign asking tourists and other visitors to help keep the municipality litter-free.
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Manager of Environment and Health Paul Czulowski said residents had an excellent record when it comes to managing their rubbish, but visitors could be less mindful.
“We find around holiday periods, areas such as Blowhole Point in Kiama had a higher amount of litter than would normally be the case,” Mr Czulowski said.
“Our new campaign involves a few different approaches to this problem, including working with tourism operators such as tour bus companies, to provide reminders about littering to their customers.”
Mr Czulowski said cigarette butts remained the biggest problem out of all types of litter.
“Often passengers will hop out to view the Blowhole and take the opportunity to have a cigarette, but crush the butt out on the pavement,” he said.
“While we have installed rubbish bins and cigarette disposal bins at popular tourist sites, we still find plenty of butts in our gutters and drains.”
Another approach being used for the campaign is pavement signage to prompt smokers to think before stamping their butts out on the ground.
“The signs will catch the eye when people look down to drop a cigarette, and it avoids cluttering places such as the Blowhole with too many traditional signs.
“We are also looking at providing tourism operators with litter kits to distribute to their customers, which would include a cigarette disposal canister, re-usable rubbish bag and other such useful items.
“People want to do the right thing, so we’re taking that extra step to make it as easy as possible to not litter.
“Research shows people are less likely to litter if they think they are being watched, so another part of this campaign is having residents remind our visitors about litter by pointing out nearby rubbish bins in a friendly manner.
“The NSW EPA also provides a website where people can register to report people littering from cars, which also can be an issue around the holidays.”
The EPA website is at www.epa.nsw.gov.au/reporttoepa