While global warming has often been described as THE issue of modern times, plastic pollution is sitting hot on its heels, if not in the overtaking lane!
Countries around the globe are trying to come to terms with China banning the import of plastic waste and, according to an ABC interview with Sunshine Coast Mayor Mark Jamieson, local councils across Queensland are currently stockpiling recyclables until they can find another sucker willing to take our waste.
Now don’t get me wrong, we residents generate our fair share of waste but one cannot ignore the fact that increased tourism directly equates to increased waste. The United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) estimates that 4.8 million tonnes, or 14% of all solid waste, is produced each year solely by tourists.
Out of sight, out of mind
A lot has been happening on the waste front lately and we have to acknowledge the hard work done by Noosa Council staff who, over the last year, awarded a new waste contract, introduced a green waste recycling bin and put a bid out to tender to manage recycling operations at the Doonan landfill site.
Shortly after being awarded their third consecutive contract to take care of Noosa’s waste at a cost of about $45 million, Cleanaway announced an improved system of waste collection along the touristy strip of Hastings Street.
Our high yield visitors and the businesses who rely on them expect a “cleaner and greener” way of rubbish collection, so the noisy rubbish trucks along Hastings St were binned in an effort to spare our visitors the early morning clatter of rubbish collection.
The Sunshine Coast Council is taking this one step further, unveiling Australia’s first high-tech, underground automated waste collection system for the Maroochydore City Centre. Rather than using wheelie bins, waste from apartments and commercial buildings will travel at up to 70kmh through a 6.5km system of underground vacuum pipes.
It’s great to see so many initiatives, but sometimes I wonder if the “out of sight, out of mind” mentality is hampering efforts to actually reduce the waste we produce in the first instance.
Picnic, anyone?
We all love to head down to the water’s edge for a drink and a bite to eat, but unfortunately, the plastic-free options on this front are limited. Chips, dips, over-packaged cheeses, cold meats, olives – you name it and it will most likely be wrapped in plastic. And, while it’s quite easy to be prepared when you’re at home, few people adhere to their home recycling regime when on holiday.
Eating on the move entails a variety of single-use items – plastic cups, cutlery, plates, and those annoying little soy sauce bottles with the red lids that manage to escape the waste stream no matter how hard you try for it not to.
The spoils of the war (on waste)
Ask the cleaners who ensure our holiday facilities are spick and span, and they’ll share horror stories related to waste. In addition to complimentary soap and shampoo packaging, cleaners bring home the spoils of the war on waste. Much leftover food and bags full of almost-filled-to-the-brim shampoos, conditioners, body lotions and more being left behind when our visitors head home.
The rise of Airbnb accommodation is adding to the problem and even more travel-size beauty products get used once or twice and then discarded. Not to mention the wide variety of cleaning products and single-use wipes to clean windows, floors, barbecues and more.
What to do about it
As I mentioned in Part 2: No lack of planning, for Tourism Noosa to adhere to the Global Sustainable Tourism Council guidelines, they need to achieve certain milestones, most of which are related to waste reduction and waste management. These include:
- A system to encourage enterprises to reduce, reuse, and recycle waste and that any residual solid waste that is not reused or recycled is disposed of safely and sustainably
- A waste collection system that maintains public records on the amount of waste generated
- A solid waste management plan that is implemented, and has quantitative goals to minimize, and ensure safe sustainable disposal of waste that is not reused or recycled
- A program to assist enterprises to reduce, reuse, and recycle waste
- A program to reduce the use of bottled water by enterprises and visitors
In 2016-17, Tourism Noosa spent 70% of its income on marketing and events and 19% on industry development and sustainability. I couldn’t find detailed information about where the sustainability money was spent but I assume a lot of that was on updating the EcoCheck online resource.
Could we be doing better than this on sustainability? I believe so.
If Tourism Noosa needed some ideas, I’d suggest more funding and support for grassroots programs like Boomerang Bags and Plastic Free Noosa who are working hard on generating change from the bottom up.
I also believe better placement of bins and consistent signage across the Shire would do wonders in minimising the impact from tourists and residents alike. We have a big job ahead of us!
