Over the weekend, Sunshine Coast locals woke up to white-sand beaches, beautiful skies, and a heap of rubbish.
It seemed that one woman had a rowdy night at Wurtulla Beach, leaving some of their scraps at the lifeguard track, and this did not go unnoticed.
Wurtulla Beach is a serene, pristine stretch of coastline on the Sunshine Coast, located roughly 90km north of Brisbane, and it was littered with some leftover party essentials.
This included wine bottles, beer cans, beer boxes, empty soft drink cans, and scraps of a popular Mexican food chain.
One frustrated local spotted this mess and took to Facebook to show other locals and express his anger.
He even found a receipt with the woman’s name on the takeaway order, and continued to expose her to the public.
“To [redacted] (dumb enough to leave her name on a GYG receipt) and her friends that decided to have a party at Wurtulla lifeguard track,” he took to the Sunshine Coast SurfCheck Facebook group.
“Forgot to clean up their mess, broken bottles out on the road, up the path and all over the boardwalk lookout.
“You and your friends need to learn some respect for our beaches and some discipline, obviously something your parents didn’t teach you.
“I’ve cleaned up your mess. I’d love to say a lot of colourful words and what I’d do if I caught you grubs, but this wouldn’t get posted on this page.”
In true social media fashion, locals had their input on the matter, and they were fuming, too.
Most locals were urging for the woman to be fined, or at least reprimanded for her littering.
“Yes, name and shame its pathetic, no excuses,” one person commented.
“She should be given hours of beach clean-up to learn a lesson,” a second suggested.
“Biggest pet leave is littering, good on you for naming them up, despicable behaviour,” a third wrote.
“Should dump it on their doorstep,” another person claimed.
The group were called names, such as “disrespectful little grubs”, “self-entitled grubs” and “disgusting animals”.
Sunshine Coast littering and illegal dumping laws are governed by the Queensland Waste Reduction and Recycling Act 2011, with fines ranging from $200 for general litter up to $100,000+ for major commercial or dangerous offences.
Enforcement is strictly handled by the Sunshine Coast Council.
General littering, defined as under 200 litres, which includes small items like food wrappers, cigarette butts, or items flying off an uncovered trailer, can involve an on-the-spot fine of $200 and a maximum court penalty of $3000.
The Sunshine Coast Council encourages all locals and visitors to be “mindful” of their rubbish.
“We all need to do our part to help keep our beaches, parks and open spaces litter-free on a regular basis,” a Sunshine Coast Council representative told news.com.au.
“It is imperative for not only the safety and health of our community to keep the Sunshine Coast litter-free, but also for our much-loved wildlife and beautiful natural areas.”