After the devastating storms and floods of the past months, cleaning up Australia has perhaps never been more important. So if you see people wandering around your neighbourhood this Sunday wearing gloves and carrying white and yellow rubbish bags, feel free to wade in and lend a hand.
These people are your community taking time out to help Clean Up Australia. They might be in parks, sporting fields, at the beach, on bike tracks or along the side of the road. They will also be in the bushland, rivers and creeks where flood debris has accumulated.
Held each year on the first Sunday of March, Clean Up Australia Day is scheduled for this Sunday 6 March. And after two years of the pandemic, there is a particular concern about disposable masks and other single-use items littering the environment and creating hazards for marine life and birds.
A study conducted last year found that there was a jump of nearly 9,000% in global face mask litter last year, with mask mandates the main driver – and that poses considerable danger for birds and marine life, which could become entangled in the mask’s rubber straps. Yet while we’ve all seen them lying around, there has been no specific study in Australia, to ascertain the extent of the problem.
To help ‘unmask’ the issue, Clean Up Australia is asking volunteers as they set out to do their bit for the planet on Sunday, March 6, to tally the number of face masks they collect.
If you have not already registered and received your free Clean Up kit, just grab your gardening gloves and a rubbish bag to join in. To find an event near you, see the Clean Up Australia website, where you can also report the number of masks you collect.
Unless of course, it is raining, in which case contact your local group to find out about re-scheduled dates.
And it’s important to remember you can Clean Up Australia any day of the year – because our waste challenges go well beyond one day.
