Litter and Pollution
Rubbish and recycling bins are provided – please use them!
Help keep Mosman beautiful and healthy. Litter is unattractive, a safety risk, attracts pests, harms wildlife and is a financial cost for Council to clean up.
Cigarette butts are a major problem for our health and environment. Over seven billion cigarette butts are discarded across the nation each year. Most littered butts in Mosman enter our storm water systems and are flushed into the Harbour.
Toxic chemicals including cadmium, lead, arsenic, formaldehyde, mercury, benzene and hydrogen cyanide leach into the water which reduces our water quality and harms our precious marine life.
Mosman Council is one of many Councils Australia-wide serious about enforcing laws against littering and issuing penalties to offenders.
Smokers be warned – drop that butt and risk a fine of up to $200. Carry a small container such as an old film canister, or bag, to store your butts until you can dispose of them properly.
Plastic bags can become persistant litter in the environment and a hazard to wildlife that may be entangled in bags or mistake bags as food (turtles mistaking bags as jelly fish). It is estimated that every year between 50 and 80 million bags enter the Australian environment as litter.
What can you do about it?
Local residents – Refuse, Reduce, Reuse & Recycle.
- Say NO to plastic bags when shopping.
- Take reusable alternatives like calico, go-green polypropylene or string bags.
- Encourage others to do the same.
- Recycle your plastic bags at local supermarkets such Franklins (Bridge Point), Woolworths or Coles. Be careful to check which plastic bags are accepted at the recycling bins – they usually only accept the supermarket style shopping bag (HDPE), not the heavier bags used by other retailers (LDPE).
- Become a HarbourCare Volunteer
- For more information visit Planet Ark's Recycling Near You or Clean Up Australia .
To find out how you or your business can get involved visit Planet Ark's Recycling Near You or Clean Up Australia . A retailer’s kit has been produced by Clean Up Australia to help retailers to start reducing plastic bag use and increase recycling.
For information on how to help improve the water quality of Sydney Harbour by preventing stormwater pollution see Stormwater on this website.
Spills and pollution
By reporting spills and pollution quickly, the appropriate response can be undertaken rapidly and minimize the harm from the incident. Be a responsible citizen and report any pollution incidents, or anything unusual you observe to Mosman Council’s Rangers or Environment Officers.