It turns out 'Tidy Kiwis' are actually increasingly untidy.
Keep New Zealand Beautiful today released its 2022 National Litter Audit findings. It follows, and is compared to, a baseline audit carried out in 2019.
The 2022 audit found the number of littered items, volume and weight had increased at a national level.
The volume of items increased by 335 percent, while there was an 87 percent increase in weight and 22 percent increase in count, the charity’s chief executive Heather Saunderson told Checkpoint.
Illegal dumping had increased 280 percent since 2019, Saunderson said.
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“I was a bit surprised, just taking into consideration the various lockdowns for different regions.
“I had anticipated that, say, masks and gloves and waste that one would associate with the lockdowns would’ve been more prevalent, but that was not the case.
Saunderson said there was a slight decrease in the number of cigarette butts in 2022 but it was still a commonly littered item.
Vaping items were now being seen, as well as plastic, beer bottles, snack wrappers, paper and cardboard.
The most common brands littered included McDonalds, Cadbury, Long White, Speights, Coca Cola, V, Corona, and Steinlager.
Saunderson said there was an opportunity for leaders in the food and beverage industry to work with the charity to find a solution.
File image. Photo: 123RF
“They are not the ones who are causing this problem. This is people choosing to do this. It’s a behaviour.
“But what they could be doing is working with us to further all of the education that we offer.”
Saunderson said the charity did all of its work “off our own back” and it was a bigger problem.
“It’s a matter of everyone working together to acknowledge this is an issue and there are solutions that we’re offering, but we need leaders of industry to come on board.”
Saunderson said the audit did not look at attitudes and behaviours, but a study the charity conducted in 2018 found that most people littered within 10 metres of a bin.
“This is a huge problem,” she said.
“New Zealand is clean and green by comparison to many other countries, I just don’t think we are as clean and green as we claim to be.”