Rest Stop rubbish
Submitted: Monday, Jan 21, 2008 at 23:22
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Kiwi1
I'm sure this topic has been aired plenty of times in the past but it does no harm to bring it up again.
We've been on the road for a couple of years and never cease to be disgusted by the state of the highway verges and rest stops along the way. It is probably a credit to the sort of people who inhabit this
forum that it seems to be less of an issue once you leave the bitumen.
We're currently in Perth after wending our way down the WA west coast where it seems worse than most other places - perhaps due to vast distances and limited resources for clean-up teams.
Nonetheless, EVERY roadside rest stop seems to be equipped with bins and yet travellers still manage to litter the surrounding countryside with bottles, cans and those oh-so-attractive streamers of perforated white paper.
We carry a box of disposable gloves and a supply of plastic shopping bags and always make a point of cleaning up any spot where we do an overnight stop. Invariably, 30 minutes will produce enough rubbish to fill at least one complete bin and sometimes more.
Much of the rubbish has pretty obviously been lying around for months - long enough for bottle labels and can logos to fade away, while who-knows-how-many travellers have passed through and tut-tutted at it all.
So how about we all take the time to do our bit? I don't doubt that nobody on this
forum has contributed to the mess but that doesn't mean we shouldn't do something about it.
Sadly, we share the countryside with people who couldn't give a toss about what they leave behind. I've even done my bit to fix up fences that have been cut to allow travelling ferals easy access to use rural properties for their dumping ground.
I sometimes think there should be on-the-spot checks and fines for people who carry a roll of toilet paper but no shovel. Or maybe we could just shoot 'em?
Michael
Reply By: Maximus - Tuesday, Jan 22, 2008 at 02:12
Tuesday, Jan 22, 2008 at 02:12
Could not agree more and you are spot on about WA. Can I suggest that each of us, as we go through these " sites" photograph them and send them to the shire council that the site is in and the Main Roads Dept. of WA. Perhaps if there is enough e-mails , something might happen.
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Reply By: CD & JW - Tuesday, Jan 22, 2008 at 03:38
Tuesday, Jan 22, 2008 at 03:38
A before and after photo would be even better perhaps (ie before and after we clean up the area).
LJW
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Reply By: Mobi Condo - Tuesday, Jan 22, 2008 at 04:08
Tuesday, Jan 22, 2008 at 04:08
Howdy Michael - Kiwi1,
Marvelous effort to do your regular clean ups! It gets to us as well and we do our bit. Being from South Oz we can also get a bit of cash for collected cans when we get home. Storage is the issue there of course.
Maybe we could do the already suggested "before - after" pic bit with our BT's in the scene and get a bit of positive image going for BT owners /
BOG members as well!
Re the "Shoot 'em" bit - Now just what would you do with the bodies (er - make that carcase as they act like animals) coz that would take some effort to dispose of that rubbish! :-) Wow - now just who wrote that!
Cheers - Ian & Sally
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Reply By: Paul and Barb - Tuesday, Jan 22, 2008 at 06:13
Tuesday, Jan 22, 2008 at 06:13
Stopped at an overnight spot near Woomera some time ago, not long after all the protests at the detention centre by the "rent a crowd mob", bunch of do gooders. The place was obviously used by this mob as a camping area.
I spent a good half hour raking up all the toilet paper strewn over the place and burning it, so much for them caring about the environment etc. It's no wonder councils shut area's down.
No rubbish bins, then take your rubbish away with you, easy.
Paul.
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Follow Up By: Mobi Condo - Tuesday, Jan 22, 2008 at 07:13
Tuesday, Jan 22, 2008 at 07:13
Yep - we lived and worked in Woomera in that era! Some of the stories about the "rent - a - crowd" mob would make ones hair stand on end! Social etiquette was not one of their strong points!
Come to think of it now! Maybe it was your rig we first ever saw and wondered about "those super rich people with more money than sense to have bought such an extravagant and way too heavy rig!"
I have to take back all those words now eh!
How life and circumstance changes us!
Cheers - Ian & Sally
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Reply By: Kiwi1 - Tuesday, Jan 22, 2008 at 10:41
Tuesday, Jan 22, 2008 at 10:41
I don't know that before/after photos would help a lot. Photos never convey that first impression of arriving in a spot that has been trashed. Personally, I'm happy to move on in the knowledge that the next people to pass through will get a completely different impression.
And hope, of course, that I'll sometimes arrive somewhere where it has already been done for me. Wishful thinking? I hope not.
In talking it over with like-minded souls around the fire one night, somebody suggested a printed note be left to the effect that "This site cleaned up by XYZ group of caravanners". The problem of course arises if the note is still there after the next group of ferals have left their mark. LOL.
Meanwhile, we're wasting time in a caravan park on the Swan River while the WA school holidays slowly expire. Our kayaking along the river is regularly interrupted to retrieve tangled fishing line and tackle from every third overhanging tree before it claims the local wildlife. I think I feel another thread topic coming on.......
Michael
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