Blacktown City Council - Media Release - Butt Out Littering In Blacktown

MEDIA RELEASEMEDIA RELEASE

16 June 2017

Blacktown City Council is using street art to encourage smokers to butt out in the Blacktown central business district. 

Western Sydney artist Anton Pulvirenti has created superhero-themed artworks in five locations across the city.

“I wanted to put a positive spin on the message so the smoker would feel like a hero for putting the butt in the bin, rather than feeling bad for leaving it on the ground,” Pulvirenti said.

“The images and words aim to empower the smoker and act as a trigger to encourage them to think about their behaviour.”

One of the images, located at 42 Main Street and made using acrylic paint, depicts a female superhero and contains the message: ‘Be a local hero. Bin your butts’.

Another artwork shows a whale made up of litter and butts washing down a drain, spruiking the slogan: ‘All drains lead to the ocean. Put it in the bin’.

“The piece aims to make people aware the stormwater system is Blacktown’s direct link to the ocean,” Pulvirenti said.

“Litter dropped in Blacktown CBD washes down the drain, along Breakfast Creek, into the Hawkesbury River and then into the ocean.

“Once in contact with water, cigarette butts release hazardous chemicals which are toxic to some aquatic life.”

Mayor of Blacktown City, Councillor Stephen Bali, said the project aims to encourage smokers to dispose of their butts responsibly in the butt bins. 

“Cigarette butts make up 36 per cent of all litter and are our biggest and longest lasting problem,” he said.

“Because they are made from cellulose acetate and are not biodegradable, they can remain in the environment for up to 10 years.

“This project is about encouraging people to do the right thing through one of the most effective platforms available to us: public street art.”

The project is a NSW EPA Waste Less, Recycle More initiative funded from the waste levy.

The artworks are the final element of the project, which included installing ‘Butt it and bin it’ signs around the 75 butt bins in Blacktown CBD and a cigarette butt ballot on Main Street.

The five artworks can be seen at various locations in the Blacktown CBD:

·         Male superhero – contains the message ‘Be a local hero. Bin your butts’. Near the Patrick Street entrance to Westpoint.

·         Female superhero – contains the message ‘Be a local hero. Bin your butts’ In front of 42 Main Street.

·         Whale – contains the message ‘All drains lead to the ocean. Put it in the bin.’ Near the Patrick Street entrance to Westpoint.

·         Cyborg artwork – contains the message ‘The bin is within reach. Bin your butts.’ Next to the side entrance of Westpoint on Flushcombe Road.

·         Octopus – contains the message ‘Butts belong in the bin, not in the ocean.’  Out the front of Commonwealth Bank on the corner of Campbell Street and Main Street.

The artworks will remain for the next few weeks or until they wear off.

Artist Anton Pulvirenti puts the
finishing touches on his octopus
artwork for the ‘Butt out littering
in Blacktown  CBD’ campaign. 

Editors Notes:
Every time I see littered rubbish, I see and vision 2 things: individual laziness and the Millions of Dollars spent by Blacktown City Council to clean up our streets, parks, reserves and public places, when a lot of it could be prevent by each one of us.

I must admit, I have seen this even in my younger years in the Eastern Suburbs of  Sydney and no matter how much we talk about, the litter volumes increase. I am sometimes lost for words and hope by publishing these posts, that at least one person understand, one person changes  and one person actions positively and make our own community clean.

It can be simply us carrying a  small plastic bag and keeping our rubbish in this as walk within our community and place it in our own rubbish bins at home. I fully back any promotion
 that Blacktown City Council  provides in us all reducing litter.and its costs.

Click her to recent previous post

Click here for an older post on older details litter signs

Today Is Earth Day - Caring For Our Environment - Including Illegal Dumping And Littering - Telegrapgh UK

Another great worldly idea which our local Mount Druitt area would be able to work on, from here on in. 

Maybe we could have a 'Mount Druitt Care Day', where the entire community gets involved about illegal dumping of rubbish and littering as discussed in a previous post Click here

Check out how you can help out here or at least look at the below 1 minute video:

International Earth Day litter video

If Only Blacktown Council Cleared This Area At Hythe Street Reserve Mount Druitt......

I have been totally disgusted with the way some community members trash our areas: streets, roads and Dawson Mall. I was educated and taught about personal and community hygiene, tidiness, neatness and and cleanliness.

Yet, time after time, after Blacktown City Council officers spend hours, picking up and cleaning areas where any amounts of rubbish are dumped or dropped, voluntarily. There are the few that think because they walk on or around public property, they can do what they like with it, including burn rubbish , if not picked up.

Here is Grass Fire at Hythe Street Reserve Mount Druitt today

Click here for previous post

I have reported in the past,issues of dumped rubbish and over grown grass on the Hythe Street Reserve, Mount Druitt (which is along Ear Street) and have not received a response from NSW EPA or Blacktown City Council as yet, either from Councillors or Council Officers. If only they had responded and cleared this rubbish. That would have been a start and then maintain the property by mowing the grass down.

A suggestion from a former Blacktown City Councillor, Kathy Collins is so simple that I do think Council need to look at this inniative: that community members pick up rubbish in front of their own properties as they place their rubbish bins, each week for pick up.

Click  here for suggestion from Former Blacktown City Councillor!

Click Here on Post NSW EPA Fines  

NSW EPA Tosser Adds Required Click here to view it 

Resolution to this problem, is not one person's responsibility. Let's go back to teaching the basics of  keeping  our community clean and tidy to our community. The following are the ways I think our community can change:

• Kathy Collins suggestion of clean front of your house, when placing rubbish bins ready for pick up.
• Promotions of "Tosser Campaign" all around Dawson Mall/Mount Druitt Town Square, streets and all Parks/Reserve within Mount Druitt, materials obtained through NSW EPA litter.prevention@epa.nsw.gov.au 
• Each Councillor from Blacktown City Council, must spread the word of a cleaner environment at every public meeting they address and every community member they meet.
• Keep your community clean signs - place the amount of fines on signs.
• Local radio and newspaper media remind and the community that the cleaner we keep our land the emphasis on a cleaner life to live in!

• Council Rangers fining community members and then the community will start to get the word - or if the community member wants to spend a day cleaning up a few streets instead - that will pay their dues or go out to the community likes schools and business, to teach them the right way of keeping our community clean.
• Blacktown City Council, should organise cleaning of an report an public area within 3 to 4 days, not neglect it - like what has happen here!
• Maybe Council can engage the community in open forums where people  make suggestions of improvements in this area.

I'm sure that Blacktown City Council spend Millions of Dollars of  'Keeping our communities clean'! More community pride will reduce these costs, thus reducing council rates and more for useful expenditure!