Actions speak louder than words doesn’t always hold true.
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But walking the walk and recording the findings is exactly what organisers of a new litter and marine debris monitoring program want to happen in the Illawarra and Shoalhaven.
‘’We don’t want to just clean up, we want to make our efforts count and find ways to work together effectively,’’ Conservation Volunteers Australia regional manager Adam Woods said.
‘’We are encouraging community groups and volunteers to help remove litter from their local parks and beaches and record information on what they collect to build a picture of how big the plastic pollution problem is in the Illawarra and Shoalhaven.’’
The program comes on the back of new information which shows that a ‘’huge amount’’ of plastics still finds its way washed up on our beaches or polluting our waterways.
This regional approach is being support by the Tangaroa Blue Foundation, Australia’s leading marine debris organisation.
Foundation founder and managing director, Heidi Taylor said the Illawarra and Shoalhaven program will identify where work is currently being undertaken, as well as identify where there are gaps and how these can be addressed.
‘’The program will provide direction in how to implement marine debris prevention strategies and we are confident it will inspire community groups in the region to start local initiatives and then stay involved,’’ Ms Taylor said.
The Australian Marine Debris (AMD) Initiative has engaged over 50,000 people in removing almost 500 tonnes of debris from our coastline and documenting over 5.3 million pieces of debris in the AMD database from more than 1700 beaches.
A free workshop funded by the Australiian Packaging Convenant and the NSW EPA, titled Let’s Talk Litter, will be held at Port Kembla Surf Club on Thursday, April 28 from 9.30am-3.30pm.
Details at litter@srwp.org.au or 0407 431 746.