1000 Steps visitors dumping coffee cups at popular tourist spot, creating headache for Parks Victoria

THE latte set is creating a caffeine headache for Parks Victoria, which is dealing with a mountain of coffee cups at the bottom of the popular 1000 Steps.

THE latte set is creating a caffeine headache for Parks Victoria, which is dealing with a mountain of coffee cups at the bottom of the 1000 Steps.

Even 1000 Steps Cafe owner Kristy Sones, who sells many of the cups that end up on the ground at the bottom of the Upper Ferntree Gully tourist spot, has had enough.

Mrs Sones said rubbish dumping at the popular fitness spot was out of control and she was often left to clean up the waste.

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She said people dumped rubbish outside the cafe when it was closed, including McDonald’s cups and wrappers, coffee cups and meat trays from barbecues.

“Every morning when I get to work there is rubbish and I have to clean it up before we open,” she said.

Mrs Sones said she went for a walk around the area every day after the cafe closed and cleaned up any discarded rubbish she saw.

“(The public holiday) was so busy that I didn’t go for my walk and we were closed on Tuesday and when I got to work on Wednesday I saw this rubbish,” she said.

She is pleading with Parks Victoria to help her find a solution to the rubbish dumping at the 1000 Steps.

On Tuesday an angry steps user took to Facebook to slam people who left their rubbish at the iconic walking track.

Kimberley Roberts posted on the 1000 Steps Facebook page she and three other people had found 28 coffee cups, three plastic bottles and an Up & Go at the bottom of the steps and put them in the bin.

“Something I dislike is seeing the amount of empties people leave at the bottom of the steps,” she wrote.

“If you are capable of sipping on your … latte on the way to the steps, you have no excuse to not carry it all the way to the top and back down again and dispose of it somewhere other than the ground.”

She said rubbish left on the ground was not an invitation to leave more there.

“In case you don’t know how not to destroy our environment, I’ve included a photo of how to throw your trash in the bin,” she posted.

Mrs Sones said while the Beraldo coffee cups in the picture were from her cafe she was “doing my best to recycle the rubbish”.

“It’s a really bad look for us and it’s frustrating for us too because we can’t control people’s behaviour,” she said.

“There are bins at the cafe and we take people’s rubbish when they bring it in.

“Even if it’s not ours, whatever they come back with, we’ll take it and put it in the bin but if they don’t come back, what can I do?”

Mrs Sones said cafe staff also encouraged people to bring their own reusable coffee cups. She hopes to work with Parks Victoria to come up with a solution.

“This has been a problem for a long time, for me too, I understand people are frustrated — I am too,” Mrs Sones said.

“We are trying to talk to Parks Victoria to help solve this problem and we need to chat about it and perhaps work out how we can do it better.”

Parks Victoria area chief ranger Matt Hoogland said litter was the “number one compliance issue” in the Dandenong Ranges and cost taxpayers thousands of dollars each year.

He said a “carry in, carry out” policy applied to litter in all National Parks, including the 1000 Steps, and rangers regularly patrolled the park and picked up rubbish.

He did not respond when asked if the park would consider installing animal-proof bins.

“The cafe provides bins for their customers,” Mr Hoogland said.

“Parks are for everyone and we urge the public to take their rubbish home and dispose of it responsibly.”

Anyone who sees rubbish dumping in the park should note details, including vehicle registrations and descriptions of the people involved and report it to Parks Victoria on 13 19 63 or the EPA on 1300 372 842.