You could mistake this scene for a poverty-stricken area in Malaysia, where much of Aotearoa’s waste is sent. This is a scene from a street in Ōtepoti/Dunedin, a southern city in first-world country Aotearoa, with an organised, regional waste disposal system. So, why do people litter? According to environmental psychologist, Lee Chambers, “Littering appears to be a very simple concept, whereby an individual chooses to do either the right thing by disposing of their litter in the correct way, or the wrong thing by leaving the litter in an unsuitable place.” “Put simply, if an area is well maintained, and free of rubbish, then we are less likely to litter. Conversely, if a place has a lot of litter and poor access to rubbish bins, we are more likely to litter.”
So, how do we change the culture of littering? Sherilyn MacGregor from the University of Manchester considers litter to be at the end of a process that involves production, consumption, and disposal. Rubbish should be tackled at source and the real solution is a zero-waste society.
Litter affects people’s wellbeing and safety. It negatively affects animals, and Papatūānuku. Take pride in you, take pride in your roots, take pride in your home. In the words of Darryl Kerrigan (The Castle 1997), “It’s not a house it’s a home, a man’s home is his castle.”
Photo: Sian Mair.