I live in a small suburb on the Central Coast surrounded by water and bushland. One of the main reasons I moved to the area was the beautiful treelined road, a peninsula with two suburbs. Both little towns are dotted with bays and little beaches on Lake Macquarie. When I moved the population was much smaller and in the next couple of years the lure for open land will be bringing lots of new happy home owners.
My town has won the Tidy Towns Award thanks to the tireless work of the Lions Club members with assistance from the council. They have done some great work in making this area of the coast a beautiful place. There are a few members who actually walk the 5km stretch of road leading to town, collecting rubbish that is sometimes carelessly thrown from cars. These people are community champions setting shining examples for all of us to pick up after ourselves.
Schools are notoriously difficult to keep tidy. Our college is located in an open environment that is accessed by many external and internal groups every day of the week. With the sports fields, roads and paths being open to often windy weather, rubbish can blow through and settle anywhere creating a not so attractive environment. Teachers, coaches and college kids often reluctantly pickup rubbish that wasn’t theirs.
A special national day, with huge advertising campaigns, has been created to get rubbish cleaned up. What would happen if everyone, everyday picked up a small piece of rubbish and threw it in the bin? Imagine all of us doing this daily, just one piece….yes, lots of overflowing bins! Oh well, it’s a start anyway. Maybe not everyone will take it on but could it be a simple task that we secretly have with us during the course of a day?
Next time you see a piece of rubbish, pick it up and chuck it in the bin. If someone asks you why you’re picking up after others, just tell them you’re looking after your little piece of Australia.
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