Do The Right Thing

A new War on Litter has been declared with an aggressive $70,000 litter reduction campaign.

Over the coming months, television ads encouraging Tasmanians to be litter wise will be aired thanks to the strong support of industry, local and State governments.

The industry-funded Do The Right Thing campaign of the 1970s and 80s was one of the most successful campaigns in Australian history. It was responsible for a 70% reduction in litter.

Now, a new Do The Right Thing advertising campaign has been developed to highlight many of the State's iconic locations while showcasing Tasmanians placing their litter in the bin.

Since the first phase of the campaign began as Don't Waste Tasmania in 2004, there has been a marked improvement in litter awareness across the State. According to the 2004 National Littering Behaviour Study VII, Hobart's rating has been lifted from one of the worst, to the equal second best capital in the country.

Once again, the objectives of this new campaign are to reduce litter in the Tasmanian environment, through community and manufacturer participation in litter prevention and recycling activities by encouraging people in a positive way to take responsibility for their own littering behaviour. It also recognises that everyone litters, and that littering behaviour is not just specific to one age-group or demographic (see the Littering page on this site for more details on littering behaviour).

Do The Right Thing aims to manage litter proactively - rather than reacting to litter after it has hit the ground - by giving all members of the community the chance to contribute to a cleaner Tasmanian environment. Again, the underlying rule of 'clean = clean' forms the basis for the entire Do The Right Thing campaign.

This latest campaign can also be drilled down to the community level, by offering sponsorship packages to local organisations, businesses and municipalities, so they can join in keeping Tasmania clean.

The advertising campaign is a collaborative effort between the Packaging Stewardship Forum of the Australian Food and Grocery Council, Southern Waste Strategy Authority, the National Packaging Covenant, State Government of Tasmania, Veolia Environmental Services and WIN Television.

The campaign is further supported through placement of litter bin and billboard signage and litter/recycling bin infrastructure at a number of key locations around the State. These will offer further reminders to Do The Right Thing, while at the same time encouraging greater responsibility for the correct disposal of litter.