Thursday 10 March 2011

Huge haul in Clean Up day

: The dedicated group of volunteers doing a magnificent job keeping our beaches clean.

by Heidi Taylor

Volunteers grabbed gloves and bags around Australia on Sunday to clean up their environment, and it was no different in Far North Queensland where volunteers from Tangaroa Blue, Poseidon Outer Reef Cruises and Wavelength Marine Charters hit the beach to celebrate Clean Up Australia Day.

Cow Bay was the first on the list, and volunteers were happy to find that the beach was relatively clean with only 210 bits of rubbish weighing 13kg being found. So with lots of energy left, we headed round to the next bay at Cape Kimberley where previous clean ups have always yielded a huge haul of rubbish.

Two hours later, over 2920 items of debris had been collected weighing 149kg! This included 1104 pieces of broken hard plastic, 834 pieces of polystyrene foam (some of which were identified as foam from the Bureau of Meteorology's weather balloons), 348 lids, 89 shoes and 53 cigarette lighters.

The most unusual items were the membrane from a desalination unit, a Remington bullet holder, a spirit nip measure, a kid's bike, two animal syringes and a container full of horse vitamin paste.

During the event a little bit of healthy competition was created with vouchers to The Port Douglas Wildlife Habitat's Breakfast with the Birds up for grabs for the volunteer who found the most unusual item and for the volunteer who could guess the total amount of kilograms collected.

Congratulations to Erin Smart & Tanya Galvin who will be heading for a scrumptious breakfast!

Thanks to all the volunteers for their help, many hands make light work!!

Have your say!

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James Watson, 17-03-11 10:08:

Hi to all you people reading these Comments !

I endorse what you ALL have said .
I have found that in my cleaning of the area on Four Mile ,as I carry a WHITE Tangaroa Bag with me --I make it a point to acknowledge other *walkers *--bringing them up to date with what I have collected --and ask them if they have seen any rubbish !!
MOST people respond --next time I see the same people --They have rubbish to give me !!
We are all different --I know --But Heidi with Tangaroa Blue does a great job in the work that she and Richard do for the Community .
Congratulations go to all those collectors --who have the concern to be proud of the PARADISE we live in !!

Mat Churchill, 16-03-11 09:36:

Perhaps we need a campaign which is quite confronting. Maybe at the entrances to the beaches we have lifelike models of animals that have been killed by our rubbish. A bit macabre but would stick in people's minds.

Heidi Taylor, 15-03-11 21:04:

It is really sad that everytime we visit the beach we remove loads of rubbish. The positive is that each bit of rubbish that is removed is no longer a threat to marine life and seabirds. The negative is why we have to do clean ups in the first place. I think a solution must look at a collaborative approach including further infrastructure, education and information - many people that litter don't understand the impacts on the marine environment and that is the message that we need to spread. Do you want to be responsible for killing a dolphin, whale, turtle, shark or bird just because you can't be bothered to take your rubbish home with you? A big thank you to all our supporters and volunteers that choose to make a positive difference and help out with clean ups and by doing the right thing - protect our oceans by putting your rubbish in a bin!

Anna Whitfield , 14-03-11 10:59:

I don't believe more signs work, maybe more bins? Though I believe we should take our rubbish home, and not put the responsibility on someone (council) else... As most dog walkers we also pick-up rubbish. Most we pick up is drinking collateral, glass, bottles, cans, even disposable nappies and I draw the line at condoms. It is waste left behind by humans. They all know by now that it impacts on the environment, fact is they just don't care. How to fix that lethargic attitude? Parenting the parent? I don't know. I am tired of more rules, more signs, more policing resulting in more intolerance - answer surely has to be in changing attitudes?

Mat Churchill, 13-03-11 09:18:

I agree Cheryl, it's a complete lack of respect that people show when they leave their rubbish (including cigarette butts) behind. With beaches like Four Mile being quite tidal, the rubbish that remains would only be a small portion of the amount which is washed out to sea everyday. Heidi Taylor from Tangaroa Blue reported that on average 18,000 pieces of plastic litter each square kilometre of the world's oceans. It's a massive problem.

Cheryl Wellham, 12-03-11 07:51:

It doesn't surprise me that so much garbage was collected on the clean up day. It's a sad reflection of our times that so much rubbish is left around our region without a thought of taking it home. Frequently early morning walkers including myself pick up as we amble along the beach. One morning I picked up a whole shopping bag full at a site where there had been a beach fire the night before. And the rubbish is not only restricted to our beach. Shopping areas, along the roadsides are often littered with food wrappings, bottles etc., and bins are within arms reach there. Thankyou to all the early morning walkers who help keep our beach and town clean on your walks, and thank you to the fantastic efforts to the clean up team last week. I would love to read others comments on this aggravating problem in our beautiful town. How do we address this? Is it more signage, more bins, more education, or even a local campaign? Afterall we are trying to get visitors to return and spread the word, but at the moment we're looking a bit sad.