Govt Directs $5M To Tackle Marine Litter As Taronga Zoo Hosts ‘Don’t Be A Tosser’ Event

As Taronga Zoo launches its ‘Don’t Be a Tosser’ campaign, the Minns Labor Government has announced it will be directing $5 million to tackling marine litter through the ‘Streets to Sea’ grants program.

This funding is set to help councils and public land management implement systems and public works to stop litter from entering waterways and ending up in the ocean.

“For every piece of litter on land in NSW, nine times more can be found in our waterways. And plastic waste doesn’t just disappear – it breaks up into microplastics that infiltrate waterways, threatening our environment and wildlife,” said Parliamentary Secretary for the Environment, Trish Doyle. “Unless we take urgent action, by 2050 there could be more plastic in the ocean than fish.”

Across the world, nearly all seabird species and half of all sea turtles are estimated to have ingested plastic when they mistake it for food – this leads to significant health problems for the marine animals.

NSW generates more than 891,000 tonnes of plastic waste every single year. Only 14% is recycled, and remaining 86% ends up in landfill or the local environment, where much of it travels into waterways.

News broke at the end of last year that Sydney is quickly running out of landfill space and will completely run out by 2030, and a statement about the grants program says these programs will help NSW tackle the looming waste crisis. A ban on integrated plastic items in food and drink packaging also came into effect this January.

Taronga Zoo tackles litter with ‘Don’t Be a Tosser’ campaign

Sydney’s Taronga Zoo, along with the NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) has teamed up for sn event that’s part of the EPA’s ‘Don’t be a Tosser!’ campaign.

With the campaign, Taronga and the EPA aim to show the devastating and deadly impacts that littering can have on wildlife. The team also hope to teach people how to reduce the amount of plastics they use, and how to dispose properly of the plastics they do use, in order to reduce the amount of plastic waste that ends up in the ocean, harming marine life.

Taronga is also holding a three-day ‘Don’t be a Tosser!’ pop-up event.

“This event at Taronga reminds us all – Don’t be a Tosser! It illustrates just how harmful litter such as plastic bottles and coffee cups can be to our marine wildlife,” said Doyle.

The zoo will host giant sculptures of common litter, like food packaging, plastic water bottles and coffee cups, which will stand next to statues of some of Australia’s favourite marine animals including pelicans and fish.