What a great turn out for our Clean Up Australia Day event on Sunday 14^th March! We had 35 volunteers join us, cruising out to the Mandurah estuary islands – Creery Wetlands and Boundary Island to clean up rubbish on those precious sites.

A whopping 90kg of rubbish PLUS large items (truck tyre, timber, boat parts, tables, chairs, signage) was collected! The top 10 items in order were:

• broken glass (824)
• whole and bits of plastic bags (348)
• plastic food packaging (249)
• rope (207)
• hard bits of plastic (186)
• cigarette butts (147)
• drink bottles and cans (83)
• bait and tackle bags (81)
• foam packaging (72)
• fishing line & lures (61)

A massive THANK YOU to everyone who came along to our event and those who are attending other clean up events around the region as part of Clean up the Peel. You are all champions!

CLICK HERE to see more photos from the day.

Identifying the Source

Volunteers pair up at our clean up events – one picks up the rubbish and the other records the types of rubbish on the Tangaroa Blue Data Sheet. This data is then submitted to The Australian Marine Debris Database, creating a comprehensive overview of what amounts and types of marine debris are impacting beaches around the country. This information then enables community groups, scientists and government to work on ways to stop rubbish at the source.

Projects Targeting the Source

Being able to ‘identify the source’ had led to innovative campaigns and effective solutions to reducing marine debris in Mandurah. Here are just a few examples.

A significant amount of fishing line was being collected along the Dawesville Cut rock walls. With such data on record this resulted in more fishing line bins being installed along that area.

Our Mandurah Clean Waterways committee recognised that the majority of items ending up on our shores in the region were items that easily blow away – bait bags, food packaging, etc – accidental littering. The group produced a series of videos for social media to remind people to make sure loose items are secured (and providing suggestions) so they don’t end up in our waterways.

Join Our Next Clean Up Event!

We hold biannual clean up events at Mandurah Cruises – one in March for Clean Up Australia Day / Clean up the Peel and one in October for Luca’s Legacy. Departing from Mariners Cove in Mandurah we take volunteers to the Creery wetlands and Boundary by boat to pick up rubbish before enjoying a sausage sizzle/salad rolls/drinks and prize raffle. They are great family events – with children are welcome under adult supervision. Please email natalie@mandurahcruises.com.au if you are interested in joining our next clean up.

It’s not our rubbish but it is our waterways…