This week is Keep Australia Beautiful Week, an initiative developed to remind people about the simple things they can do in their daily lives to reduce the impact on the environment and encourage action.
This year, KAB Week has two key themes ‘Dropped on Land, Kills at Sea’ and ‘Where Does Your Rubbish Go’ to highlight the harmful impact litter has on our waterways and wildlife.
According to Keep Australia Beautiful, around 8 million items of litter enter the marine environment every single day. Around 80% of this is washed from land, with cigarette butts, food and drink wrappers and fishing gear making its way into our oceans and rivers through run-off from storm water drains, or being left on beaches and river banks.
This litter is harming and even killing our marine mammals and other wildlife through entanglement and ingestion, with at least 77 species of marine wildlife found in Australian waters being affected.
Butts are one of those items that so often find their way into our waterways. The impact on marine life, waterways, animals and toxins are four of the main problems associated with butt litter. Interested to know more about the problems and the myths behind butt litter? Visit www.notagoodlook.com.au
To find out more about Keep Australia Beautiful Week visit www.kab.org.au
Date: 23 August 2011
