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Meet Our Humans On The Ground

Volunteers are the lifeblood of our organisation. They’re the everyday superheroes who make our projects and our purpose achievable.

In the lead up to our #SeaToSource Day of Action on April 11th, where people around the country will be spending a day doing their part to protect Australia’s waterways. We wanted to ask some of our humans on the ground why they were choosing to take action for nature, and had the opportunity to speak to this wonderful group helping our Revive Project Officer Jess clean up the Lozzbert Reserve in Melbourne.

Rosalyn – Retired Adventurer

“We like doing things for the community… we have a long-term commitment to caring for the environment and being active in that process. 

That interest has always been there, my husband grew up in the country and we’ve had a lot of time in the outdoors camping and hiking etc. We used to go skiing and up to the alpine area in the summertime and we realised how fragile it is really. We wanted to help in any way we can with both our own rubbish and other people’s rubbish. We were in outback Queensland for most of COVID, and even there it was so surprising just how much little regard there is for the environment with people throwing things out their car windows. 

So we just do our bit, and I think every little bit adds up. I love the nature of the #SeaToSource project where you’re going back to the source. I used to do other clean ups but you ended up just dumping the rubbish in landfill afterwards which felt a bit pointless really. So I love this system where you’re going back to the source of where the litter comes from, and helping re-imagine how we use things at that source. 

I love being outside, and this is a part of the world we’ve never been to! It’s a great chance to see a different part of Victoria to Geelong, where we live. 

We’re retired now so I do a lot of volunteering with the surf club etc. We’ve been busy all our lives with work, and now we’ve stopped work we thought ‘well we don’t do golf or bowls or any of those things’ so we just be active within our community and doing what we can. 

We also just sold our house to buy a van and travel around the country volunteering!”

Jacklyn – Passionate Student

“I really wanted to give back to the community and help pollution in the rivers and the beaches. I’m studying a ‘Masters in Environment and Sustainability’ so I’m looking at working in the conservation workforce, mainly to be changing policies, or even taxing or removing plastics in supermarkets etc. Then I’m hoping I can do the on the ground work as well! 

My Bachelor degree was in food sustainability, but I wanted to learn about the broader things such as water and biodiversity etc. The Masters I’m doing now teaches you about climate change, water pollution, biodiversity, everything! So, when you graduate you essentially have a sense of everything in terms of sustainability, which (laughs) makes it tricky – I was hoping for some direction in terms of where to focus. 

I know I want to work in conservation though, preferably work with wildlife but I’m moving to the Netherlands in a few months and there’s not much wildlife over there!  

This spot (Lozzbert Reserve) isn’t local to me, but I’m doing one in a month at Patterson River which is just down the road from me. This one’s a little bit further away but I’m also very adventurous and like to explore nature and find new places. It’s like a mix of being able to see natures flora and fauna as well as helping out the environment.  

I’m very outdoorsy, going for walks in parks, birdwatching and trying to identify birds calls. I love going to the Dandenongs especially. I also love music and music festivals as well! I just went to one last weekend and it was amazing. Nature, people and music is my absolute dream.” 

Rhian – Mum & Avid Yogi

“I’m a mum of two kids, 5 & 8 years old. I’m also studying mental health at the moment, so I was looking for volunteer opportunities in that field, and then this came up! I’ve always been interested in conservation and the environment so thought I’d come and give it a go. 

I’m from Werribee myself and we go down to the river a lot, especially during lockdown and with the kids, so I thought ‘No this is important, I want to do it’. The Werribee has so much wildlife in it, we just need to keep it cleaner and better looked after. 

During lockdown I decided I wanted to study and re-train so thought you know what, I’ll study mental health because that’s going to be so important. The kids are growing up so it was time to try something new and get back out there.  

I like yoga. Especially this outdoor class I do in Werribee near the beach. Cooking, I’m also really into my hiking – I like getting out into the You Yangs as much as I can.” 

 

Helen – Lawyer, Mum of 3 & Outdoor Enthusiast

“COVID changed my path a little bit so I’m looking for other things to fill my life at the moment. I love spending time outdoors, a do a lot of hiking. I don’t have a lot of outdoor ‘skills’ but picking up rubbish doesn’t really require any so that’s awesome! (laughs) Looking for outdoors things to do with low barriers to entry basically.  

I had signed up for a few things when COVID hit, so I’m just picking it back up now.  

The kids are definitely into these kinds of things too. We spend a lot of time camping and hiking but live in Melbourne. They get a lot of environmental education at school, and a lot of kids their age are very earnest about the importance of these kind of things.”