Severe weather events highlight the importance of Clean Up Australia Day

THE recent heavy rains and floods have highlighted the need for Australians to be more aware of how they discard rubbish.

Clean Up Australia Day takes place this weekend. PHOTO: Supplied.

More than two tonnes of rubbish was recently removed from K’gari (Fraser Island) in the wake of ex-Tropical Cyclone Seth.

NOW READ: Tonnes of ru bbish removed from Fraser Coast

The current weather event is also likely to have seen waste washed into our waterways.

Clean Up Australia Day takes place this Sunday (March, 6).

The event has become Australia’s largest community-based environmental event.

Some 5,660kg of rubbish was collected across the Fraser Coast last year.

ALSO READ: Truckloads of flood debris removed from Hervey Bay beaches

Clean Up Australia Day Chairperson, Pip Kiernan believes COVID-19 lockdowns have changed habits and fuelled an increase in household waste.

“In the past two years, there has been a significant increase in single-use plastics, alongside unprecedented numbers of face masks, takeaway coffee cups and food packaging littering our footpaths, parks and beaches,” Ms Kiernan, said.

ALSO READ: Fraser Coast celebrates World Environment Day

It’s easy to be involved in Clean Up Australia Day:

Pick a park or your favourite picnic spot to clean up;
organise your family, friends, neighbours and workmates to join your team, and;
register your site and team on the Clean Up Australia Day website www.cleanupaustraliaday.org.au.

Registering an event also helps the Fraser Coast Regional Council identify where to collect the rubbish that has been picked up on the day.