Keep Australia Beautiful has gone back to the 70s and 80s – but only briefly (two 30 second ads) and only to make a point. It has been trying to make Australia stop littering for forty-five years. Littering still goes on – and now, at a rate of 48 million litres per year.
The 80s ad ends with the warning, “If we don’t keep Australia beautiful today, it won’t be worth living in tomorrow.” It may well be that we are very close to tomorrow. To put off tomorrow, Keep Australia Beautiful, launched The Litter Fighting Fund, with Derryn Hinch as its first ambassador. “We are lucky to live in such a beautiful country but we need to treat it with respect,” Hinch said.
The Litter Fighting Fund will directly support litter reduction programs in Australia. Every dollar donated will be used to support our initiatives including community grants, litter campaigns, litter research and environmental education such as Eco-Schools.
The Eco-Schools program has also launched in Australia. On the 20th anniversary of the programme running globally, Australia joined The Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE). Keep Australia Beautiful became its national operator.
Australia is the 55th country to launch Eco-Schools. The launch took place at Harrington Park Public School in NSW on 21 May, Australia’s first registered participant.
The Eco-Schools programme is student led, curriculum based learning which is undertaken through a 7 steps framework. Registered Eco-Schools can then apply for awards, Bronze, Silver and Green Flag. For the first year of operation, Eco-Schools Australia will be piloted in New South Wales, Tasmania and the Northern Territory. Principal sponsor for Eco-Schools Australia is the Australian Packaging Covenant. Eco-Schools Australia is also sponsored by The Danks Trust and Wrigley.
