The Rest Area Dilemmas

Traveling through our great country of Australia, rest areas are situated throughout Australia at various locations. Some of these rest areas are without toilets or rubbish bins, this is where the dilemma begin. 

Rest area are being used as toilet stops, and I am more talking about the rest stops without toilet facilities. USED Toilet paper is being blown around the rest area not being burnt or buried or put in a cheap plastic bag for later disposal. 

Fellow travelers and I mean anyone in any type of vehicle is greeted at the rest area by rubbish or used toilet paper which was left behind deliberately. Most travelers doing the right things are not overly happy after a long drive seeing used toilet paper and rubbish on there door step at the rest area. 

So who is to blame? 

The mains road department put rest areas in for fatigue drivers in order to help save lives, by avoiding vehicle accidents.  It is not necessarily there responsibly to provide toilet  facilities but they do try very hard in some area only to have toilet paper rolls stolen, graffiti on walls and doors, and having to cleanup after some people deviled the facilities for others. This does cost a lot of money to keep on rectifying. 

So now there is the traveler who should be preparing his vehicle for the trip he under takes. The traveler stops at fuel stations for fuel, food and toilet facilities,  stopping at parks and rest areas with toilet but sometimes it is a long way between toilet facilities.  

This brings us to the next dilemma, we have all heard the saying , when you got to go you have got to go. Some travelers carry toilet facilities with them, such as caravans, motorhomes and camper or camper trailers. Portable toilet are not that dear, they even have pocket size disposal bags for hikes. Even a plastic shopping bag could collect used toilet paper and disposed at the next roadside stop where there are rubbish bins. 

This is some of the solutions to the problem.  Now leaving rubbish or used toilet paper behind, is littering which is illegal and if caught a fine can be imposed. 

So who is responsible, unfortunately in my opinion we all are. 

While camping around Australia we have seen truck drivers, backpackers, people towing caravans and trailers, cars, buses even people on push bikes and motorcycle all have used areas that other people rest at, use the landscape as a toilet facility  without any regard for the fellow travelers that come in behind them.

So closing these site would not solve the littering problem but would create a bigger problem, just because some people don't care about the environment or anyone else, yes this is selfish but only the littering is against the law. 

Enforcement of the law is also hard as police have a lot to do and couldn't be everywhere at the same time.  A lot of volunteers join the cleanup Australia day campaign to make a difference. 

Maybe fellow travelers might invest some of their own time helping, yes I hear you did not make the mess so why should I clean it up. I understand this problem and there is another 100,000 traveling behind you saying the same thing and no one likes the mess so who will end up cleaning the sites. 

I find the situation very strange as fellow travelers we are all happy to help a traveler in need. We even help farmers in need. So is it so wrong to help the country in need. If not us ,who will, this is all about fighting for our planet and our country as rubbish can blow into our oceans make the soil toxic from plastic byproducts. 

Think as your contribution as helping your fellow travelers, the planet earth and our country,  which at this moment is humans only living space until maybe going to Mars so we can litter up there also. 

Read Wikicamps comments and you will see the appreciation of a clean site is very much appreciated. These are only my own opinions,  I do agree you do the right thing it is not your fault but if someone doesn't take the the responsibility we will all be traveling not from rest area to rest area, but to one rubbish dump to another. 

I would like to hear your comments.