OPINION: Litter costly and time consuming

Newton's third law of motion states every action has an equal and opposite reaction.

What goes up must come down. Rubbish in, rubbish out.

These are all surmises based on logical thought processes and surely every adult understands them.

So why does it seem beyond so many people to fathom that rubbish doesn't just disappear?

What - rubbish actually sits there accumulating in the environment if I don't clean up after myself?

Well yes, unless someone else cleans up after you - and plenty of people do undertake this thankless task on a regular basis.

Not because they like spending Saturday mornings picking up rubbish but because the alternatives are to do nothing or let the council spend even more of your hard-earned money employing people to walk the streets for the bargain price of $30 per bag.

On Sunday, March 1, Clean Up Australia Day, more than 50 community volunteers gave up their free time to keep Hedland beautiful and good on them.

But if we look at the statistics, if each volunteer was paid $20 per hour for their efforts, that's over $2000 or 100 hours that could have been put to better use: fundraising for schools, supporting local sporting clubs, free movie nights - use your imagination.

And if the prospect of picking up other people's mess in 45 degree heat isn't enough to make you mad, it is estimated that 50 million plastic bags become litter in Australia each year.

Every year thousands of marine mammals, turtles and seabirds are killed by eating or getting trapped in plastic rubbish.

In January this year, 154 litter reports were registered in Western Australia, 343 fines were issued and 415 fines were paid.

According to the Keeping Australia Beautiful Council, there are already 9399 people reporting across the State. If you would like to become one of them, litter report cards are available at the Town of Port Hedland reception or you can report online at www.kabc.wa.gov.au /report-littering.

Bridgette Poulton is the Care for Hedland Environmental Association co-ordinator.