Keeping Hastings Beautiful - let’s be litter-free

Litter gets around: into our parks and reserves; into our street gutters then down our stormwater drains and into Te Karamu Stream and on out to sea; our city and village streets and centres; our beaches; our own gardens.

But it doesn’t get there by itself: Every piece of litter has been dropped by someone or has blown out of a recycling bin, or escaped from a load heading for a rubbish and recycling centre.

As a community, we cannot afford to pay for picking up litter from rates, which comes at n estimated cost of $90,000 a year. And that doesn’t even cover all areas; just the ‘hot spots’. To keep every space clear of litter has an estimated cost in excess of $1 million a year.

Wouldn’t it be absolutely wonderful if we all just stopped dropping it; if we all put it in a bin, or took it home to recycle it or put it in our own rubbish, took extra care with our kerbside recycling on windy days; picked up our dog’s poo; and made sure nothing could escape from our trailers as we headed for the rubbish and recycling centre.

Remember:

• be a Litter Legend – dispose of rubbish the right way
• don’t drop it - put it in a bin or take it home
• pick up your dog’s poo
• have a strategy for managing your recycling when it’s windy
• make your rubbish and recycling load secure – don’t let it litter

It is that simple!

We have a couple of characters lined up to help us work towards a litter-free Hastings:

Click here to read their back stories

We also have a character starring on rubbish bins across our district, reminding people not to be a foul shooter – in the bin, not at it!

Litter news