2012 Gladstone harbour catchment care : social survey - who are the people littering and why

The purpose of this research was to examine “who” and why people are littering in the Gladstone region. This was determined by investigating two aims:1. What is the prevalence of littering behaviours and associated guilt in the Gladstone region; and 2. What is the public’s level of awareness of current programs designed to combat the issue of marine debris, focussing on four programs. A social survey was used to collect the data. The survey used face-to-face purposive sampling of individuals in the Gladstone region. A total of 137 people were sampled, with the sample size having a 95% confidence level of being representative of the Gladstone population. The survey collected information about respondents residency, age, gender, education and income; their self-admitted littering behaviours and associated levels of guilt; and respondents awareness of four (quarterly marine debris surveys, the catchment to coast tagging programs, creek catchment community working bees and the community awareness campaigns) campaigns that deal with marine debris and littering. This research received approval from the Human Ethics Research Review Panel at CQUniversity and all research was conducted in accordance with the Australian National Statement on Ethical Conduct in Human Research. Two major correlations were evident: Few respondent admitted to littering, with the following demographic correlation: Younger respondents more commonly admitted to littering; The awareness of the public programs is low, with greater awareness influenced by: A respondent's residence (permanent and “other1” residents are more aware); A respondent's age (respondents aged 26-55 have greater awareness); and A respondent's level of education (respondents with a postgraduate education are more aware of the programs). These outcomes should provide some insight for community groups, industry, and policy-makers regarding future how to manage the issue of marine debris and littering in this region.