Grubby truth revealed at Grime Scene

The grimy underworld of litter is in the spotlight this week, with the launch of a GetReal investigation to identify the brands most commonly found littering our country.

The "Grime Scene" investigation has been conducted in Wanaka and Alexandra already, with a video clip of the Wanaka Grime Scene up on Youtube under Wanaka Wastebusters.

Investigations will be carried out in Waiheke Island, Rotorua, Tauranga, Marlborough Sounds, and other towns across the country during Keep New Zealand Beautiful week (Sept 4th–11th.

Chief Grime Scene investigator, Ivy Willmott, said it is great that so many people participate in Keep New Zealand Beautiful week every year, but it was time to look at the source of the problem.

Eleven different green groups, community groups and schools have agreed to keep statistics this year about the litter they pick up. GetReal will put the numbers together, and release the findings about which are the most commonly littered brands.

The Wanaka investigation was carried out in July. Three different areas were cleaned up and every bit of litter was identified and recorded. The areas were Ballantyne Rd, Luggate South, Ardmore St and SH6.

Of 131 bits of litter, the most commonly found was Speights, followed by Coca-Cola and Frucor. Ms

Willmott said her conclusion was that most littering in Wanaka was done by people out on the razzle.
"Those companies which appeared at the top of the list make a lot of money by selling their products to people having a night out. Big-name brands do make an effort to encourage people to use rubbish bins, but I'd like to see them take more responsibility for their product's life cycle from material sourcing to waste recovery.
"Consumers are expecting a lot more from the brands they choose to buy these days. Not so long ago, producer responsibility ended once the product was sold off the shelf. But those days are gone. 

"Consumers want to know that a company will take responsibility for its product in all ways possible. That includes environmentally and socially. I think most companies will agree it's not a good look to have their wrappers or bottles littering the countryside."

GetReal would be happy to work with the companies identified as contributing to the litter problem, to come up with some positive and creative solutions.

ENDS

Contact:  Ivy Willmott, Producer Responsibility Campaigner for GetReal

 (03) 443 8606 ext 7, 021 285 6969 or [email protected]