Keeping Our Waterways Litter-free

GAMES & ACTIVITIES FOR KIDS OF ALL AGES

AcknowledgmentsFor more information about our programs, please contact:

Keep Australia Beautiful WAPostal Address: Locked Bag 33, Cloisters Square, Perth WA 6850Office: Level 7, 168 St Georges Terrace, Perth, 6000.Phone: (08) 6467 5122 Email: kabc@kabc.wa.gov.au

We gratefully acknowledge

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)Office of Response and RestorationMarine Debris Program

for giving us permission to use their resources.

Illustrations by Jess Chambers

Design by Su-Anne Lee, Spice Creative

2 Lots of Litter

3 Marine Debris Problems

4 The Source of the Problem

5 Litter-less Lunch

6 How long will it take?

7 Keeping Kevin the Crab Safe

8 No Excuses

9 Keep our Waterways Clean

10 How can I Help?

11 Dolphin Watch

12 Cleaning up the Beach

13 Lots of Letters

14 Help Kevin get to the bin

15 What Can I Do?

16 Marine Debris

17 Implications of littering

18 Answers

At Keep Australia Beautiful we know how important it is to keep Western Australia litter-free. It is vital that the community is aware of the problems caused by litter not only on land but also in oceans, rivers and lakes. In waterways, marine animals and birds can ingest or become tangled in marine debris making them very ill or even die.

It is up to us to make sure that litter is disposed of correctly in the first place. Not only will it help creatures like Kevin the Crab, but it also makes our beaches and rivers much nicer places to be.

This is Kevin the Crab. He lives in the pristine waters of the Ningaloo Reef in Western Australia. It’s up to all of us to make sure that Kevin and all marine animals are safe from harm by keeping our waterways litter-free.

Contents

www.kabc.wa.gov.au

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Litter can come in many shapes and sizes, and is made of many different materials. When this litter gets into our rivers, streams and even our stormwater drains, it makes its way out to the ocean. When in the ocean, it becomes a big problem for all of the seabirds and marine creatures who call the ocean home. They can eat plastics thinking these are food or even become tangled in discarded fishing nets.

You can help Kevin the Crab and all of his friends by making sure to put your rubbish in the bin.

The words appear horizontally, vertically, diagonally forwards and backwards.

J D G X N W L J H I E F A B C

P L A S T I C B O T T L E S I

O S N S L E B A N H U P S T G

L V G R P A P T L M O E G E A

Y E H N M U L I I R W Q A N R

S L H P O A C N U U Z S B B E

T A C J K H I C G R V J C K T

Y L F Q X U T H I T B U I M T

R R W V M D V I X T S W T I E

E Y Z C M M O D D J S O S G B

N R A D E W Q D X W K A A Z U

E N S E L T T O B S S A L G T

S F I S H I N G L I N E P P T

J S E X O B T I A B Q U W P S

M B B J F T Q C B E L P X X P

ALUMINIUM CANS

BAIT BOXES

CIGARETTE BUTTS

FISHING LINE

GLASS BOTTLES

NETS

PLASTIC BAGS

PLASTIC BOTTLES

PLASTIC CUPS

POLYSTYRENE

ROPE

THONGS

Hidden in the puzzle below are many different types of litter that have been found in the ocean. Find them all.

Lots of Litter

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Marine Debris Problems

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ACROSS

3. Many pieces of litter are made from _______ which breaks into smaller and smaller pieces.

6. These sea animals have flippers and a hard shell.

7. Litter on the street is picked up by rainwater and carried through these types of drains into our waterways.

11. This growing problem occurs on the land, in the air and in the water.

12. Marine ______ is the name for litter that gets into our waterways and the ocean.

13. Birds and marine life can become _______ in plastic debris in waterways.

14. These feathered animals live on land and in the water.

15. The large amounts of plastic now found floating in the _____ is hazardous to our marine wildlife.

16. _______ plastic bottles, tin cans, glass, paper and cardboard to make a difference.

DOWN

1. A protected marine park off Western Australia’s mid-north coast.

2. Some of the biggest mammals on Earth.

4. When rubbish is thrown on the ground rather than in the bin it becomes ______

5. A community or school group will at times get together to do a _______ of our beaches and waterways.

8. A term that is associated with the ocean.

9. These types of products break down due to natural processes.

10. Turtles sometimes mistake plastic ____ as their favourite food (jellyfish) and eat these.

Litter that makes its way into our waterways and then out into the oceans is a big problem. It can harm and even kill seabirds and marine creatures.

Always make sure to bin it. You know it’s the right thing to do.

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The Source of the Problem

Write 3 things that could be done to make sure this litter does not make its way to the ocean.

1. _________________________________________________________________________________________

2. _________________________________________________________________________________________

3. _________________________________________________________________________________________

Litter in our oceans is called ‘marine debris’. It can make its way into the water in a variety of ways. This type of litter causes many problems to the animals that live in these environments. Colour the pictures that represent sources of marine debris.

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Litter-less Lunch

HOW YOUR PACKED LUNCH CAN HELP MAKE LESS WASTE AND LITTERMany children carry a packed lunch to school. Food packaging can create a lot of litter every year.

Here are some ways to reduce the amount of waste generated by a packed lunch.

• Reduce the amount of food packaging needed. When planning your packed lunches, instead of buying 12 individual bags of biscuits, you can buy one larger bag of biscuits and divide it into serving sized portions in reusable containers.

• Reusable containers can store biscuits, chips and just about everything else you find in a packed lunch. These containers can be brought home, washed and used again.

• Always recycle aluminium cans, glass bottles, plastic bottles and plastic containers found in your packed lunch.

Draw your lunchbox and use magazine cut outs or draw pictures of a litter-less meal inside.

Make sure to include lunch, two snacks and a drink.

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How long will it take?

3 – 4 weeks

Up to 12 years

Up to 20 years

50 years

450 years

600 years

Up to 1 million years

1 – 2 million years

For more information about how long different materials take to break down, have a look on our website at www.kabc.wa.gov.au.

It takes just a moment for an item to be carelessly discarded or blown by the wind into waterways. It can take many, many years for that item to completely breakdown. Test your knowledge about how long each of these would take.

Write and draw them in the correct order

Banana Peel

Cigarette Butt

Plastic Bottle

Styrofoam CupAluminium Can

Fishing Line Plastic Bag

Glass Bottle

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Keeping Kevin the Crab Safe

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Keeping marine and river environments litter-free is not just the responsibility of fishers and boaters. It is estimated that about 80% of marine debris is from land based sources. Littered items such as cigarette butts and food and beverage containers, reach the ocean and river through run-off from storm water drains.

Entanglement and ingestion are the primary types of direct damage to wildlife caused by marine litter; it can smother sea beds and it is increasingly believed to be a source of toxic substances in the marine environment.

For more information on how you can be helping to keep Kevin the Crab safe from litter, have a look at the information about Clean Marine at www.kabc.wa.gov.au.

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No Excuses

There’s already litter there.

Why shouldn’t I?

I don’t want to mess up my back pack.

It’s too hard to find a rubbish bin.

Mum would get upset if she knew I ate a snack before dinner.

Everyone else does it!

Someone else will pick it up for me.

It’s JUST a lolly wrapper.

It’s too heavy to carry.

Nobody told me not to.

The rubbish bin was too yucky to touch.

Animals will eat the apple core.

It’s so tiny, it won’t matter.

Bees were around the rubbish bin.

I saw an adult do it.

I don’t care about the beach.

There wasn’t a sign telling me not to litter.

It fell out of my pocket.

Some people just need to be reminded to do the right thing. What could you say to someone to convince them to put their rubbish in the bin?

1. _________________________________________________________________________________________

2. _________________________________________________________________________________________

3. _________________________________________________________________________________________

HAVE YOU EVER LITTERED AND THOUGHT YOU HAD A GOOD REASON FOR IT?

When people litter, they sometimes think that they have a good reason for it but there is NEVER a good excuse for littering. Take a look at the list of reasons people use for littering. Put a tick next to the excuses you have heard people use when they litter.

If your friends or family use these excuses remind them that there are no good excuses for littering and ask them to throw their rubbish in the bin.

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Keep our Waterways Clean

Take our quick quiz for your chance to

WIN AN IPAD MINI

Know what ’s right?BIN IT

TO WIN ITQUIZ SCAN HERE

Test your knowledge with our Bin It To Win It quiz.

Are these statements true or false? Circle the answer to test your knowledge.

1. Dolphins are to blame for the growing problem of marine debris. TRUE / FALSE

2. Stormwater drains carry litter from the street into our waterways and ocean. TRUE / FALSE

3. Plastic bags break down into nutritious turtle food in 2-5 weeks. TRUE / FALSE

4. Marine debris is found in every part of the world’s oceans, even on the most remote islands. TRUE / FALSE

5. It’s okay to throw biodegradable fruit scraps on the ground for birds and other animals to eat. TRUE / FALSE

6. If you have a good excuse it’s okay to litter. TRUE / FALSE

7. Cruise ships are the largest mammals in the world. TRUE / FALSE

8. Every person can promote a healthy, safe environment through their own actions. TRUE / FALSE

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How Can I Help?

Beach or coastal clean-ups occur in many communities. During these cleanups, kids and adults work together to collect the litter that has been thrown into their waterways. Cleanups make the environment a cleaner, safer place for people and animals.

I SANRGEO A MCNOUTMY I

ANLCPUE RO OYU

CLDUO ENEV DAPOT–A–TOPS

For information and support of organising your own cleanup, visit www.kabc.wa.gov.au.

Unscramble the words below to reveal how you can help.

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Dolphin Watch

When you are in or around waterways where dolphins live, it is important to take extra special care. Follow these simple rules to keep yourself and the dolphins safe.

• Keep away from dolphins – never approach a wild dolphin and make sure you keep at least 30 metres away if you are in the water or 100 metres if you are in a boat;

• Never feed dolphins – it is illegal and leaves them vulnerable to entanglement, boat strikes, and disease;

• Slow down for dolphins – dolphins often form resting groups in the middle reaches of the estuary, so keep an eye out for dolphins, and slow down if you spot any; and

• Take your rubbish home.

www.riverguardians.com

Colour the dolphin.

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Cleaning up the Beach

This is a game that can be played with two people, but we recommend playing it with a group. The READER asks each person (in turn) to call out a word until the blanks are filled in. Then the READER reads the entire silly story to the group.

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Lots of Letters

Wor

d C

halle

nge

TA I E

ULB

FU

Make as many words as you can using the letters in the boxes. Each word must contain T. Can you find the 9 letter word?

Make as many words as you can using the letters in the boxes.

Each word must contain T.

Can you find the 9 letter word?

Wor

d C

halle

nge

TA I E

ULB

FU

Make as many words as you can using the letters in the boxes. Each word must contain T. Can you find the 9 letter word?

WORD CHALLENGE

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Help Kevin the Crab get to the bin

Sometimes it takes a couple more steps to get to a bin where you can properly discard your rubbish. Remember to always put your rubbish in a bin and always look for recycling bins for your glass, plastics, cardboard, metals and newspapers.

BIN IT. YOU KNOW IT ’S THE RIGHT THING TO DO.

Help Kevin the Crab find is way to the bin and collect 10 pieces of litter on the way.

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What Can I Do?

For more information about how you can help reduce plastic bag litter, visit our website at www.kabc.wa.gov.au.

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In the m rine en ir nm nt, plastic bag litter

s esp nsible for killing t ns of tho sands of

bird , whales, seal and turtles very yea ,

as they often mi take lasti bags for foo such

as j llyfish.

After an animal s kill d b plastic bags, its body

e omp ses and the p astic is eleased back

into the marin en ironment wher it an kill

othe wildlife.

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Marine litter is a big problem for many of our seabirds and marine animals. We can all play a part in making sure that plastics and other litter doesn’t make its way into our waterways in the first place. Hidden in the information below are five important words to remember to keep our waterways clean. Link the missing letters in the paragraph to spell out the five words.

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Marine Debris

Marine debris is man-made items that ended up in the marine environment through littering or dumping. It injures and kills marine wildlife, affects human health and coastal habitats and is a major pollution issue around the world.

PIALCTS MARGNTEFS

DOOF PIKAAGNCG

CAISPTL SILD

SILCPAT SAGB

CEGTAETIR TUSBT

NEKRBO GALSS

LATNOISNIU MOAF

LIAMUMINU NACS

TIPLACS BSTETLO

NIHFIGS LENI

P T F G T39 29 2

D P C9 12

L C D14 26 6

P A A21 5

G T U41 34 30 27 37 11 32

K G S3 15 40 10 43

U A O22 42 20 35 13 16 38 19 4

A M U N7 25 23

I T S17 18 1 24 28

S G N36 31 8 33

V 71 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16

17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37

V Y Y38 39 40 41 42 30 28 29 40 43 34

Find out more about the marine debris issue and how you can help at Tangaroa Blue.www.tangaroablue.org

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P T F G T39 29 2

D P C9 12

L C D14 26 6

P A A21 5

G T U41 34 30 27 37 11 32

K G S3 15 40 10 43

U A O22 42 20 35 13 16 38 19 4

A M U N7 25 23

I T S17 18 1 24 28

S G N36 31 8 33

Implications of littering for marine creatures

Litter in our waterways not only looks bad but causes many problems for seabirds and marine animals. These creatures can ingest our litter or become trapped and unable to move. Unjumble these problems caused by litter to solve the sentence below.

VOISATRNTA

NILRAGNASUTTO

GLMETEENANNT

JYINUR

MAHR

SEINOTNIG

IUTAMOTNAP

NGNIRDOW

RIGMOSNETH

T V23 26 1 25

R I N11 27 2 17 30

E T N28 7 14 4

N8 12 31

R6 15

I E I20 13 24 19 10

M T O9 21 22 18

W N29 5 16

M H I3

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C B21 17 22 23 24 25 26 27 3 28 29 30 31

To die from lack of food.

Entanglement causing lack of circulation.

To be snared and unable to escape.

Wound.

Pain or suffering.

To take in through the mouth for digestion.

To lose a body part.

To die through inhalation of water.

Covering the mouth causing suffocation.

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Lots of Litter

Marine Debris Problems

The Source of the Problem Wherever you find people you find a potential

source of waterway litter and marine debris.

How long will it take? 3 – 4 weeks Banana Peel

Up to 12 years Cigarette Butt

Up to 20 years Plastic Bag

50 years Styrofoam Cup

450 years Plastic Bottle

600 years Fishing Line

Up to 1 million years Aluminium Can

1 – 2 million years Glass Bottle’

Decomposition times from Ocean Conservancy’s Pocket Guide to Marine Debris*Plastic never fully decomposes

Keep our Waterways Clean1. FALSE - Dolphins don’t create litter. Litter is

created by people who do not dispose of their waste correctly.

2. TRUE - Many people think that stormwater goes to a treatment facility but it actually goes to our waterways.

3. FALSE - Plastic bags are very dangerous for marine animals. They may become entangled in the bags or eat them, mistaking them for food.

4. TRUE - Litter has even been found in Antarctica. Water currents can carry litter and deposit it in remote areas.

5. FALSE - All waste must be disposed of correctly so fruit scraps must go in the bin, the compost or the wormfarm.

6. FALSE - Littering is NEVER okay. There is no excuse.

7. FALSE - The largest mammal in the world is the blue whale which can grow to 30m long. That’s a bit longer than your school basketball court!

8. TRUE - Always remember to bin it. You know it’s the right thing to do.

How can I Help? Organise a community cleanup or you could even

Adopt-a-Spot.

Answers

J D G X N W L J H I E F A B CP L A S T I C B O T T L E S IO S N S L E B A N H U P S T GL V G R P A P T L M O E G E AY E H N M U L I I R W Q A N RS L H P O A C N U U Z S B B ET A C J K H I C G R V J C K TY L F Q X U T H I T B U I M TR R W V M D V I X T S W T I EE Y Z C M M O D D J S O S G BN R A D E W Q D X W K A A Z UE N S E L T T O B S S A L G TS F I S H I N G L I N E P P TJ S E X O B T I A B Q U W P SM B B J F T Q C B E L P X X P

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NW IH N P L A S T I CA G C IL A L T U R T L E SE L E TS T O R M W A T E R

O A N RR U B BI P O L L U T I O N AN O GE D E B R I S

ET A N G L E D

RS E A B I R D S

DO C E A N

BR E C Y C L E

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Answers

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Answers

Lots of Letters

Nine letter word: BEAUTIFUL

Help Kevin get to the bin

What Can I Do? avoid, reuse, recycle, recover, dispose

Marine Debris PLASTIC FRAGMENTS

FOOD PACKAGING

PLASTIC LIDS

PLASTIC BAGS

CIGARETTE BUTTS

BROKEN GLASS

INSULATION FOAM

ALUMINIUM CANS

PLASTIC BOTTLES

FISHING LINE

Over 7 million tons of plastic litter enter the ocean every year

Implications of littering for marine creatures STARVATION

STRANGULATION

ENTANGLEMENT

INJURY

HARM

INGESTION

AMPUTATION

DROWNING

SMOTHERING

Australians use 10 million plastic bags a day

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Notes

www.kabc.wa.gov.au