Queensland Murray-Darling Committee launch campaign called Talking Trash

It might sound like trash talk but a new campaign aimed at Western Queensland is encouraging people to keep rubbish off roadsides and properties or risk being reported.

The Queensland Murray-Darling Committee’s (QMDC) campaign, ‘Talking Trash’, is headed by athletes, truck drivers and grazihers calling on motorists to keep their litter inside their vehicles, report littering and encourage roadside clean ups.

Litter audits have found drink containers, fast food packaging and cigarette butts are the main items people throw out even at roadside pull over areas where bins were provided.

QMDC CEO Geoff Penton said not only did roadsides look unattractive but it added up to a significant environmental threat. 

“Litter audits done across the south-west prior to the first campaign showed litter was accumulating on our highways at a rate of 14 items, per 2km squared, per day,” he said.

‘Talking Rubbish’ is an extension of “Love Queensland – Let’s keep it clean” campaign.

Among the local and famous faces leading the campaign is Nolan’s Interstate Transport truck driver Paul Carrington.

He said he sees someone throwing something out the window every trip he does from his Gatton depot.

“My pet hate is driving past a takeaway food place and a couple of kilometres up the road, people throw the bag out the window, into the middle of the road, and you run over it,” he said.

“It’s just laziness.”

To report litter visit www.ehp.qld.gov.au 

For more information on how you can help visit www.QMDC.org.au