A team of 33 volunteers from Tangaroa Blue and Westpac Group collected 20kg of litter in a beach litter clean-up around Cook Park and the beach area on Tuesday, July 2
This is down on last year when volunteers from Tangaroa Blue, American Express and the US Organisation Ocean Conservancy removed 361kg of litter at a similar area of the beach.
Bayside Council mayor, Bill Saravinovski said the reduction in litter being picked up was good news.
It was proof that the Bayside Council Beach Litter Program is working, he said.
"It means Council's current anti-littering campaign, as well as new bins in the area, is working. We are keeping waste out of our waterways and off our beach," Councllor Saravinovsk said.
Since February 2019, Bayside has introduced an additional 6,300L of fixed bin capacity along the beach and throughout Cook Park.
This included 50 custom beach bins along the 8km beach to coincide with an upgrade of existing bins and an extensive education program that included the NSW EPA's 'Don't Be a Tosser' campaign.
Beachgoers have responsibly disposed about 3,815kg of waste material in these 50 beach bins alone since they were installed 18 weeks ago.
This is equivalent to keeping 212kg of waste per week out of our waterways or beach area.
Tangaroa Blue is conducting another clean-up on Friday, July 19 starting from 9:30am at the corner of Solander Street and The Grand Parade, Monterey through to Brighton-Le-Sands beach.
Approximately 120 volunteers are expected to participate.
Tangaroa Blue Foundation is an Australia-wide not-for-profit organisation dedicated to the removal and prevention of marine debris.
Tangaroa has created the Australian Marine Debris Initiative (AMDI), an on-ground network of volunteers, communities and organisations that contribute to a database helps communities look after their coastal environment by providing resources and support programs.
For more information see https://www.tangaroablue.org/.
