Discovery under roadside sign exposes 'frightening' reality of deepening Aussie crisis
But doing so is having far-reaching ramifications for the environment, with wildlife fatally impacted by busier roads and an ever-growing problem with waste and illegal dumping as housing rapidly expands into rural areas. Photos supplied to Yahoo News this week lay bare the issue in sobering light.
One image shows a massive pile of litter directly under a sign warning of fines of up to $6,000 for the destructive act. The "frightening" reality, one resident who painstakingly collated the rubbish from the 30 metres surrounding the sign told Yahoo News, is that if he hadn't picked it up, "it would all still be there".
The resident, who asked to remain anonymous, told Yahoo that he grew fed up with looking at the piles of discarded items near the sign, so he decided to give it a quick tidy-up.
But the mess took six hours over three days to remove. While this small stretch of Ironbaark Road, which connects Baccus Marsh to Ballan on the outskirts of Melbourne, was clear, thousands of kilometres of road in the region remain covered in litter and illegally dumped items.
"This sort of thing happens on roads all over Victoria," he said. "I get the sense that people just don't care."
Rubbish overtakes up-and-coming Aussie suburbs
Last year, Melbourne was crowned Australia's most liveable city thanks to its affordability, infrastructure and access to education and culture. In 2024, it also had the highest level of population growth in the country, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, with developers scrambling to keep up with demand.
Bacchus Marsh, near where the photo was taken, is an up-and-coming suburb on the outskirts of Melbourne, popular for its new housing developments and affordable house prices.
As the cost of housing reaches record highs, Aussies are increasingly being pushed into regional areas, with developers racing to keep up with the demand. Illegal dumping has become an unintended consequence.
Danny Gorog, CEO and founder of council reporting app Snap Send Solve, previously told Yahoo News illegal dumping "signals a bigger issue with waste disposal accessibility and awareness".
"Whether it's dumped tires in fields or household waste dumped in laneways, it shows we need better solutions to make proper disposal easier and more convenient. While most people do the right thing, it only takes a few to create a big mess for everyone else."
In Victoria alone, there were 263,000 reports of illegal dumping to Snap Send Solve last year, exposing just how widespread the problem is.
The Melbourne resident who is documenting the problem in his local area said that he is "confronted with plastic waste" every time he leaves the house.
"There is not a day where I don't feel compelled to clean up something. The only way to avoid seeing the mess we are in is to stay at home," he said.
What are the penalties for littering?
As the sign above states, littering can result in a maximum penalty of $6,000 if the matter goes to court, but on-the-spot fines are only $200.
Moorabool Shire Council councillor Steven Venditti-Taylor previously told Yahoo the problem is exacerbated by the fact that "no one is taking accountability for it".
He believes the council is doing everything to battle the problem, but there is a "lack of care" from key stakeholders in the region — including both developers and residents.
Why is littering such a big issue?
When materials like plastic are exposed to the environment, they break down into smaller pieces, forming microplastics, which can enter ecosystems, where they can have harmful effects on humans and animals.
Microplastics have been recorded in even the most remote parts of our planet, and there is evidence that their toxins affect every level of creature — from tiny insects to apex predators. They are present in more than 1,300 animal species, including fish, mammals, birds and even humans.
Microplastics have been identified in the water we drink, food we eat and even the air we breathe. Scientists don't know the full health effects of microplastics in humans, but there is evidence they cause inflammation, immune responses and damage to genetic information in our cells, which can lead to cancer.
It's predicted that by 2040, the release of microplastics could more than double.
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Roadside banners declare support for dissident factions of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), the leftist guerrilla group that signed a peace agreement with the government almost a decade ago. Violence in Cauca — and many other regions — has intensified since the 2016 peace deal, as criminal groups and FARC breakaway factions fight for territory and control over lucrative drug trafficking routes once held by the demobilized rebels. The children's 'semillero' — a weekend school where Indigenous youth are nurtured like seeds — prepares the next generation to protect their ancestral land. More than a classroom, it's a space for learning resistance, environmental care and cultural pride. Their work echoes a broader community effort to restore damaged territory and preserve identity in a region still marked by conflict. Daniela Secue, a 26-year-old coordinator and leader of the semillero, said such training is essential as young people face so many challenges in their homeland. 'Without alternatives, some end up drawn to armed groups. But here, we teach them to protect the land through respect and care — not conflict,' Secue said. 'We want them to learn our history and know they have a role in defending our territory. This is their inheritance.' Reclaiming ancestral land In 2019, dozens of Nasa families forcibly reclaimed nearly 350 hectares (about 865 acres) of land in northern Cauca that had been planted with sugarcane for years. The industrial monoculture had exhausted the soil and polluted water supplies with agrochemicals. The families' removal of sugarcane marked a turning point — transforming degraded fields into plots for corn, rice, cassava, beans and plantains, alongside areas for forest regeneration and small-scale livestock raising. The children wrapped up their sign-posting near an old finca, a rural estate once owned by a powerful sugarcane landlord. Faded FARC graffiti still marks the outer walls, a remnant of years of armed conflict. But today, a flag bearing the red and green of the Nasa people flies near it. The building, now crumbling and abandoned, is a dilapidated testament to the violence this land has endured. Children play on old sandbags left behind by the military during a recent occupation meant to repress the community's efforts to reclaim the territory. The families' 2019 takeover of the territory saw them arriving with machetes and cutting down the vast sugarcane crops, which are used to produce sugar, ethanol and panela — a traditional unrefined cane sugar often sold in solid blocks and widely consumed across Colombia. Colombia has taken steps to empower Indigenous groups. 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