going plastic-free

Aussie Locals Do Their Bit to ‘Clean Up Australia’

Us Australians have proven that many of us do our bit to be environmentally friendly during the national event ‘Clean Up Australia Day’, which was held on March 2.

Organisers estimate that as many as 572,400 volunteers participated in the clean up at as many as 7,140 sites across Australia. Together, participants managed to collect 15,700 tonnes of rubbish from our environment – that’s a huge amount, which could have otherwise ended up harming our gorgeous environment and animal life.

Plenty of groups participated in Clean Up Australia Day, including schools, businesses and groups of like-minded eco friendly residents.

According to the Morning Bulletin, the Fitzroy Basin Elders Committee’s ‘Gundoo Rangers’ were just one of the groups getting in on the clean up action on March 2, and collected 8 shopping trolleys and 16 wheelie bins’ worth of rubbish from around Moore’s Creek in Rockhampton.

The participants, of which 30 were children aged as young as five, also planted 50 trees on the day.

Volunteers cleaning up the Sapphire Coast Drive found that plastic bottles and food packaging were among the most common waste items found, as published by the Bega District News.

Australians can easily reduce their contribution of this sort of waste by investing in eco friendly products such as stainless steel drink bottles and reusable sandwich bags, thus completing eliminating the need for plastic products such as bottles or food packaging.

A further clean up group who worked to clean up the area around Police Creek estimated that up to 50 per cent of the rubbish they collected could have been recycled, rather than thrown away.

This goes to show that there is still a long way to go before Australia is completely ‘clean and green’. Do your bit by recycling all your household waste and purchasing reusable mesh produce bags and other reusable products that will reduce your amount of waste overall.

Perhaps consider creating your own ‘Clean Up Australia Day’ in your own household. Plus, make sure you plan to participate in Clean Up Australia Day next March!

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