CLUNES MAN Wayne Glennie is fed up with picking up other people's rubbish from his paddocks.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Mr Glennie has lived in Clunes for more than 10 years after moving to the town for a tree change.
He said there seemed to have been a change in attitude as many more people were now throwing their rubbish out of their car window on to the roadside and it was ending up in his paddocks.
Mr Glennie, who lives on McDonalds Road and grazes sheep in surrounding paddocks said he had picked up more than three wheelbarrows worth of rubbish in recent months.
Most of the rubbish comes in the form of glass bottles, specifically alcohol bottles, while soft drink cans also make up a large proportion of the waste.
Sometimes I think I should maybe wear a hard hat while I'm out in the paddock because I might get hit in the head with a stubbie.
- Clunes resident Wayne Glennie says he's sick of motorists throwing rubbish out car windows and into his paddocks.
Mr Glennie said the area was becoming more popular as more people moved to the town and so the roads were busier but that does not change the fact that littering should not be occurring.
Even when he puts out his stock on road signs, Mr Glennie said people would often throw their rubbish next to it, perhaps with the thought that when the sign is picked up, so will their rubbish.
"It's not my responsibility to pick up other people's rubbish," Mr Glennie said.
"I was brought up to put stuff in the bin so thought other people would have been too."
Mr Glennie worries not just for the fact that the waste will inevitably find its way to the creek, but the glass bottles are also dangerous for the animals.
"Glass bottles can pose a risk to horse riders and animals' hooves if they stand on them and break them," he said.
"Car tyres can be punctured if a hidden bottle is driven over... and bottles may even have the capacity to start fires during hot weather."
The 2018 Rubbish Report is a snapshot of the amount of rubbish removed by Clean Up Australia Day volunteers across Victoria across 153 locations.
A spokesperson for Clean Up Australia said: "In 2018 Clean Up Australia volunteers in Victoria reported that litter directly associated with single use food packaging made up nearly 60 per cent of the rubbish they removed. That's 3 per cent above the national average.
"Of this food packaging represented 22 per cent, beverage containers 20 per cent, bottle tops, lids and straws 10 per cent and confectionery wrappers 8 per cent.
"Beverage container counts [at 22 per cent] increased by 2.6 per cent over 2017 counts - and are now 2.8 per cent above NSW figures and 9.6 per cent above SA, neighbouring states which have adopted a successful container deposit and refund system."
The locations cleaned up included waterways, parks, beaches, roadways and bushland.
