Editorial: It's not hard to remove rubbish

There is no excuse for littering. Photo / George Novak

There is no excuse for littering.

This week we saw an example of party-goers littering on a large scale.

Locals were disgusted to find bottles, cans and rubbish strewn all over a section of Papamoa beach on Wednesday morning - evidence of a beach party the night before.

I was disgusted too.

How hard is it to take your rubbish away with you? You obviously managed to get it all there, surely you can get rid of it after?

Why is it that from a young age people try to get away with dropping their rubbish wherever they are?

I've seen it among my peers ever since my primary school days.

At intermediate the whole school was made to pick up rubbish from the field at lunchtime on countless occasions.

I was always amazed by how many chip packets and how much Gladwrap we found every time.

The punishment never seemed to work because the next week we'd be picking up rubbish again - despite having bins all around the school.

I'm inclined to believe it's pure laziness and selfishness.

That's no excuse to throw wrappers out of the car window, drop cigarette butts on the footpath or leave bottles on the beach.

It takes very little extra effort to take a few extra steps and put it in the bin.

It's not fair to expect someone else to pick it up for you.

Just because others litter doesn't mean we should.

We need to set a good example, particularly for those younger than us.

We live in a beautiful country.

New Zealand has a clean, green reputation but it won't stay that way for much longer if people don't clean up after themselves.

Let's take care of our country. Have some pride.

By all means, get out there and enjoy our beaches, lakes, forests, rivers and mountains. Take a picnic and enjoy the outdoors.

But be a tidy Kiwi.

Leave it the way you found it (or in an even better state) so others can enjoy our amazing scenery after you.