KATE NEWTON
Hastings residents woke this morning to find art installations had popped up in their neighbourhoods overnight.
And while those who were up early may have been left scratching their heads when they saw the skip bins at the Hastings clock tower and the Flaxmere Shopping Centre and the car wreck in Havelock North's village centre, all became clear when signs were erected about 9am.
To kick off Keep Hastings Beautiful month, the Hastings District Council arranged the works as an ugly reminder not to drop litter by showing how huge the problem is for the district.
The Council's environmental enhancement officer, Jacqui Barnes, said disposing of litter cost Hastings ratepayers $547,768 each year.
That figure includes the 360 hours of staff time a week, vehicles, transfer station fees and rubbish bag costs but doesn't include the $365,000 it costs for street cleaners.
``It's a cost which could easily be reduced or even avoided if people put their rubbish in public bins or took it home,' Ms Barnes said.
Each month Hastings, Havelock North and Flaxmere produce 100 cubic metres of rubbish, enough to fill the 50m pool at the Frimley Aquatic Centre.
But because council staff were getting out and picking up the litter early most people would not realise the extent of the problem.
Hastings, on a normal day, creates six to seven black rubbish bags of litter and during peak times around 12 bags a day.
Flaxmere, on a normal week, generates about 44 black rubbish bags of litter and during peak times would drop enough to fill a shipping container.
Havelock North, on a normal week, creates 21 black rubbish bags and during a busy weekend can create enough to fill a car.
``If roughly a quarter of the district's population picked up two pieces of litter each that would be 30,000 pieces of litter removed from our streets a day.'
Keep New Zealand Beautiful Week starts on Friday and the Keep Hastings Beautiful Trust has decided to build on that by making September the month for reminding people to keep the city litter-free.
The Keep Hastings Beautiful Appeal Week is being held on September 22-28 and businesses supported by the Keep Hastings Beautiful paint-out van will become collection points for donations to the Trust.
Ugly reminder to keep city beautiful
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