Clean Up Australia Day

Thanks to everyone for keeping our harbour beautiful

More than 70 volunteers gathered at Rose Bay Beach for our annual Clean Up Australia Day event on 4 March 2024. Together we helped protect local birds and marine life by removing over 78 kilograms of litter from the nearby beaches, parks and waterways.

Our most littered item this year was plastic wrappers with more than 3,000 fragments of packaging collected. Cigarette butts also remain high in the count with volunteers finding over 1,000 butts. These small items cause significant problems for wildlife that mistake them for food. Vapes are now appearing in our litter, causing concerns due to their lithium-ion batteries and plastic content.

Our good news this year was the ongoing reduction in single use plastic items including straws, plates, cutlery and take-away packaging. We also saw a reduction in styrofoam packaging. The NSW single use plastic bans and Return and Earn container deposit schemes continue to have a positive local impact.

Many organisations hosted clean ups across our local area during the week including: Rose Bay Rotary, Kambala School, Cranbrook, Scots College and corporate groups such as Salesforce and Miller Leith.

A big thank you to everyone who turned up on the day and special thanks to all those locals who pick up litter regularly as part of their daily walks.