Editorial: We can learn from beach rubbish disgrace

We must get rid of waste cleanly, and we've got to buy less stuff that can become waste.

There's something about being at the shoreline — the churning body of water, windswept sand dunes, sea and sky meeting at one point.

It's hard to imagine having that perspective on the planet in all its roaring glory and being okay with then tipping a load of rubbish into the water.

But that's what the Fulton family discovered someone had done on a trip to Castlecliff beach this week.

Karl Fulton described it as devastating — and that was just to look at, let alone thinking about the environmental impact.

It's not acceptable.

But it's also not an isolated case and this sort of careless dumping can be seen all over the Whanganui district.

It's hard to know what to do about it.

First, it means not doing it – but then most us don't and what can you say to someone who thinks this sort of thing is okay? Probably not much.

We can educate and encourage each other to do better, take action when people are caught and, as a community, put in systems to reduce the chance of this happening.

But we can also use the horrifying image of rubbish strewn across beautiful black sand as a reminder that none of us are guilt-free and provide motivation to do better.

We need to dispose of waste in the best and cleanest way possible, but what is not often talked about is that we've simply got to consume less stuff that can only become waste.

A very small number of us partake in the level of blatant vandalism seen at the beach this week, but the reality is, everything we dispose of has an impact.

Whether we nonchalantly tip it into the Tasman Sea or dutifully recycle and legally dispose of our waste, it all ends up somewhere, and it's still damaging — even if less so.

Just somewhere less visually jarring. Out of sight, out of mind.

Next time you want to buy something which can only end up as waste, try to imagine it lapping at the shoreline and see if you're okay with that.

If not, see what you can do differently.