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Illawarra Shoalhaven

RID - Green Waste

Green Waste

Many residents do not realise that dumping green waste in natural bushland leads to a degradation of the environment as well as affecting the scenic and recreational values of the area.

 

Garden or green waste is any material from your garden including:

  • lawn clippings
  • branches / palm fronds
  • weeds
  • leaves
  • seeds and fruits
  • other unwanted garden waste

Why is it a problem?

Dumping of garden waste in bushland is a problem for many reasons including:

  • it may contain seeds/cuttings that will grow in natural bushland
  • many of these plants become environmental weeds
  • lawn clippings contain thousands of grass seeds and cuttings that grow wherever they are dumped
  • it poses an increased fire threat in bushland and fire break areas
  • weeds compete with local native plants
  • native plants have adapted to low nutrient levels and dumped garden waste increases the nutrient levels in soil 
  • higher nutrient levels increase the prevalence of weeds and are detrimental to native plant species
  • loss of native plant species affects native animals reliant on these species for food and/or shelter.

Report Illegal Dumping today via RIDonline. More information can be obtained from the NSW EPA site.