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Perth, WA: #SeaToSource National Day of Action

A handful of committed volunteers took the phrase ‘rain, hail or shine’ literally when they bravely turned up on Sunday 11th April to clean and protect their local beach despite the stormy weather.

This post was written by Yasmina Tulloch-Medigovich, CVA Revive Project Officer in the Western Australia Region.

 

Cyclone Seroja hit hard further up in the north west of Western Australia on our National Day of Action, and the effects were definitely felt in Perth with high winds and heavy rainfall throughout the day. To say the least, it was not ideal weather for our National Day of Action outdoors event but despite these conditions, brave and passionate volunteers dedicated their morning to the beach clean-up at Leighton Beach. 

We had 24 volunteers come and participate in the beach clean-up event. Two of these volunteers were from Sea Shepherd, who were intending to hold an educational marine debris stall, as was Kelly, a Waste Minimisation Officer from the City of Fremantle, but due to the weather could not and instead join the community volunteers collect litter for the beach and coastal dune areas. All other educational stalls and activities were also cancelled, so having 24 volunteers participate in just the beach clean-up activity was a better-than-expected turnout. 

We collected approximately 23.5 kgs of litter and approximately 7kgs of this was diverted from landfill. 76% of what we found was plastic, and all together we collected approximately 1200 pieces of rubbish (including a lot of smaller micro pieces of rubbish). 

I would like to acknowledge Sea Shepherd volunteer Brett and the City of Fremantle Waste Minimisation Officer Kelly for still coming down and participating in the clean-up. What an amazing effort! I would also like to thank all our other stakeholders and stall holders including the AUSMAP, Kids Nature Club, Coastal Clean-up Crew, Perth NRM, Friends of Fremantle Beaches, Friends of Mosman Park Bushland for supporting this event. 

The day didn’t end without a couple of weird finds, including a tent and a large water pistol toy. In saying that, we’ve definitely seen weirder!

It would have been absolutely amazing if all of the stalls and activities were able to go ahead but unfortunately, we can’t control the weather, and most importantly, I’m looking forward to next year’s NDOA! 

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This project received grant funding from the Australian Government.