Rotorua residents will watch with great interest a district council trial which will see bins removed from the city's parks and reserves.
The trial will take place for a two-year period in eight parks and reserves in the district.
Savings could be substantial if the scheme is fully implemented but
a few pieces will have to fall into place before that can happen.
Firstly, will we buy into it? Are we as residents prepared to take our rubbish home with us every time we go to the park? Well, of course we are. I have no doubt most of us wouldn't even think of littering, even with the added hassle of there being no bins.
But added hassle it is, even more so given, according to our front page story today, we're expected to recycle much of what we take home, without the benefit of kerbside recycling.
And until we're all as prepared as those dog walkers with their plastic bags at the ready it won't always be practical to cart our rubbish home, especially messy food wrappers and the like. (And doesn't the world just need more plastic bags?)
Secondly, what about the lazy, couldn't-care-less buggers? No, of course they're not going to go the extra mile and take their rubbish home. Most of them can't even be bothered taking it to the bin when there is one.
And there's the rub.
A great effort goes into earning Rotorua the title of New Zealand's Most Beautiful City time and again. Not only do we have that reputation to live up to, we have a bustling tourist economy to look after. As council parks and recreation manager Garry Page says, Rotorua is a tourist destination and the city's look is important to our economy.
If all goes well this could be a good, forward-thinking move by our council.
But if the removal of bins from public spaces leads to an increase in littering, serious thought would need to be given to the scheme's continuation.
Yes, there may be savings, but any savings would have to be measured against the bigger picture.
