Let me start out by saying that in addition to Laura I also don't like to rant on this blog. There are plenty of small inconveniences here that would be easy to complain about, but for every one there is generally an equal and opposite quality to balance it out. That being said, there is one thing that has bothered me from day one, and it is the tolerance to littering.
Below is a picture of one of our neighborhood garbage piles snapped this morning. These seem to appear every couple of weeks and generally start out with an abandoned piece of ikea furniture or a mattress. Once this happens it seems to be fair game for all the neighbors to start dumping their junk in the pile along with passers by tossing out food and other random trash. Eventually it becomes a public health hazard and at that point I assume the local council is obligated to deal with it. As you can see, this rubbish pile has a nice assortment of couches, luggage, old bike parts, a vacuum cleaner, an old tv, and around 5 gallons of used motor oil (seriously people?).
It's not just dumping in neighborhoods that's the problem, what's even worse is the number of people who leave trash behind on trains, buses, parks, and beaches. There have been numerous times where I've witnessed people blatantly leaving or tossing trash in public places with a crowd around and I've been the only one to say something. This is not something I've ever seen in the past. Maybe it's the places I've lived before, but most places I've been you would expect to see someone publicly shamed into picking up their garbage. Below is a picture I took at Bondi on a Sunday afternoon a few weeks back. Someone at least had the decency to gather some trash together, but still left it on the beach. It's disguisting to see what the beach looks like sometimes after a busy weekend.
Don't get me wrong, Australia is still a pristine and incredibly beautiful place to live. The water quality near Sydney is unbelievable for a large city, and there's almost no pollution to speak of. It just makes me sad to see people disrespecting it in such an obvious way.
Feb 13, 2011 at 1:47 AM I wonder if this is a Bondi-centric thing? Backpackers moving in and out? We get a bit of trash here or there, but not like that!
Feb 13, 2011 at 3:38 AM The trash pile definitely seems to be a Bondi-centric thing. I never saw anything like that in Paddo or Woolloomooloo. Small bits of trash (fast food, bottles, cans, etc) seem to be more equal around the city. It's not the quantity that bothers me, more of the attitude that it's someone else's problem if left behind.