JIM FAGAN
Noosa Councillor Joe Jurisevic held out the plastic bag of cigarette butts with all the irritation of a greenie who has just seen a KFC carton thrown out of a car window.
“Hey Bill’s just brought them in. His girls picked them up at Main Beach between Berardo’s and the surf club on Sunday. “Stink, don’t they. I blame Hollywood movies. Remember how the stars used to finish their smoke and grind it out on the footpath. That’s now become the norm. People just think they can do the same or stick them in the sand like this lot.” Noosa Today had called to see Joe about his plans for Clean Up Australia Day this Sunday. He’s the local co-ordinator and has been for the last five years. His passion is keeping our roads, bushlands and waterways the way nature intended and not polluted with people’s unwanted garbage. He said he first became interested in picking up rubbish years ago while walking the dog. “I would see some litter and pick it up and the more I walked and picked up the more I realised something needed to be done about it. “I’ve always been involved in Clean Up Australia Day, ever since Ian Kiernan started it. In Noosa it was co-ordinated by the Noosa Integrated Catchment Association and in 2009 I asked the president, Tony Haslem, if he would mind if I took it on board and ran it. He said, ‘Go for it.’ “The message of recycling isn’t filtering through to the community. People are still tending to throw things away, discarding them into the environment or putting them in the wrong bin so that it’s not actually going into the recycle stream. Unfortunately, I see the worst of what the public does and it frustrates me. There a very simple message when you create the waste, do the right thing and put it in the bin.” Asked if there was any particular age group that stood out as worst offenders, Joe said: “Based on the waste we’ve seen there’s certainly a youth element out there that doesn’t care. Takeaway packaging seems to be among the worst. Takeaway is consumed in the car and thrown out the window. From what I’ve seen there is a higher level of consumer product on the road rather than on the table.” Are there any particular spots in Noosa where littering is more prevalent? “Roadside verges on open stretches of road like Noosa-Cooroy and Noosa-Eumundi. They’re the ones that probably fare the worst. Also, most of the congregated areas like parks and recreation places. Walk through there and you’ll always see a bottle or a can or a piece of rubbish on the ground.” New statistics on rubbish incidence in Noosa from Clean Up Australia Day show plastic drink containers top the litter list with 11pc. The next four are cigarettes 10pc, chip packets and wrappers 9pc, bottles, caps, and lids 8pc and alcoholic beverage drink containers 7pc. With the thrill of de-amalgamation still very strong and “Love Noosa” the phrase on people’s lips, Joe isn’t surprised this renewed sense of community has resulted in a record 29 sites across the shire this year where volunteers can register. Last year there were about 400 workers. Joe is hoping for more and is also crossing his fingers for fine weather. Rain dampened enthusiasm last year and several sites were closed. Registration opens at 8am on Sunday and the location of the sites are on Page 8 of this issue. They can also be found online at www.noosariver.org.auor you can search for a site near you at www.cleanupaustraliaday.org.au/
