Litter

The Litter Working Group is targeting litter from a catchment wide perspective

DESCRIPTION

The Chain of Ponds Collaboration identified litter and rubbish dumping as a catchment-wide issue for Moonee Ponds Creek and litter education and urban renewal as opportunities to transform the Creek (Chain of Ponds Prospectus).

A Litter Working Group was formed in June 2019 to identify actions the group could implement and/or advocate for - to address the litter issue. It was felt that an agreed and shared action plan would help the group to prioritise and coordinate energies for greatest impact, lead to a reduction in the incidence and impact of litter and the cost of litter removal. A clear framework and plan that identifies the high priorities for investment was developed in conjunction with Alluvium Consulting and released in December 2020.

In October 2022 Neil Sutton was appointed as the Litter Action Lead to form a litter action plan with the working group. Phase 1 on the plan is currently underway which focusses on developing community-led litter audit/clean-ups at major accumulation points (linked to key hotspots) across the catchment. Phase 2 is focused on source reduction initiatives (such as community/retailer/construction group education, improved waste management processes, and litter management policy enforcement) at key litter generation hotspots across the catchment, and is scheduled to commence by August 2023. Phase 3 is still being formed but is likely to focus on larger long term projects such as build advocay around improved litter and manufacturing laws. It’s all go on the litter front in 2023!

Launch of the Assessment and RMIT Litter Trackers was held in Feb 2021 and attended by City of Melbourne Councillor Rohan Leppert, City West Water General Manager, Richard Smith and Friends of Moonee Ponds Creek's Kaye Oddie, among many others.

RMIT Litter Tracker data can be found on the RMIT website: www.rmit.edu.au/littertrackers

Outcomes of litter Working Group to date:

First Litter Working Group Meeting, Jun 2019
RMIT Litter Tracker Launch, Oct 2019
Catchment-wide Litter Assessment Completed, Jan 2021
RMIT Litter Tracker Launch in conjunction with Litter Assessment Launch, Feb 2021

Litter Working Group members include:

Neil Sutton (Chain of Ponds), Arezou Houshmand & Tammy Sherar (Moreland City Council), Darren Coughlan (Greater Western Water) Kaye Oddie (Friends of Moonee Ponds Creek), Liz Forbes (Kensington Association), Ryan Van den Hove & Naomi Dart (Melbourne Water), Steve Dickson (Melbourne City Council), Simon Palermo (Moonee Valley City Council), and Jason Wells-Lakeland & Paul Howard (Hume City Council), Jess Hand (Metro Waste Management Group) and Catherine van Wilgenburg (Living Colour Studio).