Gen Y blamed for littering after growing up without the "do the right thing" campaign Marion Grunert and Ariane Odore, from Noosa, say Gen Y aren't to blame for the State's litter problem. Picture: Megan Slade. QUEENSLAND has bred a generation of litterbugs who have never been taught to do the right thing, councils say. Councils from across the state have united to lobby the Newman Government to revive the anti-littering campaign Do the Right Thing after a hiatus of almost 20 years. Their push is being backed by Keep Queensland Beautiful CEO Rick Burnett who has been calling for action following the state's poor performance in successive National Litter Index reports. But Generation Y members Ariane Odore and Marion Grunert, have hit back, insisting every generation has to take responsibility for the state's littering woes. Mr Burnett said Queensland had been ranked the most littered mainland state in Australia for the last four years. We have seen a huge increase in the use of plastic bottles and plastic bags ... and these are the most littered items. We haven't had a Do the Right Thing campaign since the early 90s and a whole generation of people have missed out. Isaac Mayor Anne Barker, who won the support of councils to lobby for a renewed anti-littering campaign during a recent Local Government Association of Queensland conference, said the drive in, drive out nature of today's youth was compounding the litter problem and it was even affecting regional towns. And we also need to highlight the serious environmental impacts and remind people about the fines and penalties for littering. Friends and Generation Y members Ms Odore and Ms Grunert also agreed a new campaign was needed but said everyone needed to listen to anti-littering messages. Ms Grunert said she believed Generation Y had grown up to be more environmentally aware with issues like climate change coming to the fore. They found a friend in Ipswich mayor Paul Pisasale who said he also believed it was not just young people who needed to learn the anti-littering message. Environment Minister Andrew Powell said the State was working on strategies to reduce littering across Queensland including issuing grants for surveillance cameras and identifying litter and dumping hot spots. "The Newman Government recognises litter and illegal dumping as a major issue for both the environment and for ratepayers and is committed to working collaboratively with community groups and businesses to find innovative solutions," he said. It is why we established the Litter and Illegal Dumping Unit. The environment department has received more than 5400 littering complaints in less than two years, he said.