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In an increasingly digital age, more households are finding an online solution to less-than-favourable chores.
Whether ordering groceries online or having dinner sorted with just a few taps of a phone, there are more platforms than ever offering easy solutions.
And while shelling out $20 for someone to take away an old mattress to the tip for you might seem like a steal, questions are being raised about whether that rubbish is ending up in the right place.
Professional litterbugs
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) south-west regional manager Carolyn Francis said the trend was leading to an increase in professional litterbugs.
"We are seeing people go through digital platforms like Facebook Marketplace or Airtasker and offering for people to take their rubbish for them, for cheap prices or cash payments," Ms Francis said.
Ms Francis said the EPA has noticed an increasing issue of companies with a skip service dumping rubbish where they shouldn't.
"We've had a number of cases where skip bin operators do the wrong thing, and a number are under investigation at the moment to make sure they are taking their waste to the right places," Ms Francis said.
"We're seeing it in national parks, other public open spaces, those areas we really want to go to on our days off and enjoy … also some rural properties where larger loads will be taken and burnt.
"That obviously has impacts on people, the smoke and residue that leaves."
She said the most common sort of illegal dumping was industrial waste, construction and demolition materials, as well as furniture and mattresses.
Due diligence
Ms Francis asked that people who were offloading their waste dumping to a skip bin operator or individual do their due diligence first.
"A cheap price, well below what others are asking, that's a red flag," she said.
"Do some checks. Ask for some recommendations. Ask what landfill or licensed place they're taking it to.
"You could even ask for receipts from previous jobs to show that they have a relationship with that land filler or licensed collections place."
Secretary of Ballarat's Friends of the Canadian Corridor, Jeff Rootes, said dumping in the Woowookarung Regional Park had always been an issue, and closures within the park were leading offenders to be more brazen.
"Seventy per cent of the park now is actually closed off to motor vehicles," Mr Rootes said.
"There used to be 150 kilometres of tracks out in Woowookurung.
He said he was seeing more dumping on the main roads.
"So, it's in your face even more," he said.
"It may be that the cost of living is literally having people dump to avoid tip charges.
"You can see — not a good logic — but a logic to it."
Mr Rootes said increased attention on illegal activity in Victoria's forests and parks was a bright spot among all the dumping.
"It's mostly household rubbish, industrial rubbish, garden and tree cuttings and things like that," he said.
"There is a lot more enforcement now because some of those sites were so badly hit by rubbish dumpers that surveillance was undertaken and a number of people were fined."
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