Innes Park Reserve, Kelly’s Beach and Burrum Coast National Park are in for a spruce up with volunteers heading to the sites on Sunday for Clean Up Australia Day.
They’re three of several events being held locally aimed at clearing up our waterways, parks and schools.
Registrations are still open for the day and free clean-up kits are available.
The kits include gloves, rubbish and recycle bags for individuals or families who wish to join a pre-existing event or want to create their own.
Chair of Clean Up Australia Pip Kiernan says joining is one of the first steps Australians can take to maintain and protect the environment.
“Concerningly, our recently released 2022 National Rubbish Report highlighted that plastics account for 63% of the rubbish items removed from our parks, schools, bushland, creeks, beaches and roadways, a 17% increase from 2021,” she says.
“There is no better time than now to take practical action. Get our gloves on and get together to make this year the biggest effort yet.”
The Clean Up Australia National Rubbish Report is a snapshot of rubbish items volunteers have removed across 1,075 surveyed locations in Australia during 2022.
46% of all reported rubbish found nationally was in waterways including beaches, rivers and dive sites, followed by parks (14%) and bushland (13%).
Plastic litter dominated all locations, with most found in school grounds (79%), bushland (74%) and parks (60%).
The report also noted a rise in soft plastics by 7%, hard plastics by 5% and polystyrene by 5% compared to 2021, with single-use plastics such as plastic bottles, takeaway containers, food packaging and lids making up 25% of all reported rubbish.
“There are many everyday changes that we can make outside of volunteering our time to Clean Up Australia Day,” Ms Kiernan adds.
“We can opt for reusable shopping bags and coffee cups, avoid single use plastics, make purchases with longevity in mind, and actively seek out reusable and recycled packaging.
“These are small steps we can take where we successfully reduce, reuse and refuse as often as we can.”
Find your local clean up here: https://www.cleanup.org.au/cleanupaustraliaday
