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Hi, welcome to my blog. I'm a writer of poetry, prose and plays but my best known work is children's fiction. My most popular books are the Selby series and the Emily Eyefinger series. This blog is intended as an entertaining collection of thoughts and pictures from here in Australia and from my travels in other parts of the world. I hope you enjoy it. (For more information have a look at my website.)

Sunday, March 4, 2012

Clean Up Australia

Today was Clean Up Australia Day and many thousands of volunteers around the country gave up a couple of hours of their time to make it a better, cleaner country. This is an annual event that began in Sydney in 1989 and has now spread around the country.

Below is the Glebe, Sydney, NSW contingent who cleaned up Glebe's Sydney Harbour foreshore parks: Bicentennial Park, Federal Park, Jubilee Park, Pope Paul Reserve and Blackwattle Bay Park, which are really all one big park.

Clean Up Australia Team Glebe
The wonderful fire-fighters at the Glebe fire station joined Team Glebe while remaining on call. (As far as we know, no houses burned down while they helped out.)

Jeroen explaining the finer points of picking up rubbish
Jeroen, was this year's organiser. He also organises his own monthly clean-up of the public spaces around Glebe.

A cleaner Rozelle Bay
There is a program to regenerate the mangroves that once lined the Glebe foreshore. You can see it in its early stages to the right of the breakwater.

An thinly-veiled excuse to show myself doing something useful.
Flotsam is a problem. Litter from the land areas can be kept under control but every time the tide comes in the rubbish that's thrown off boats comes ashore.

Thirty two good reasons for container deposit legislation
If you're a drinks producer you won't want to hear this but container deposit legislation would greatly reduce rubbish. South Australia and the Northern Territory are the only places in Australia with bottle deposit laws. We need a national law but there is strong lobbying against it.

Two ecstatic members of Clean Up Australia Team Glebe showing off part of the haul.
It is amazing what an impact some volunteers can make. So put it in your diary for next year and join the fun.  You will feel suitably virtuous for ages afterwards---and guilty if you don't.



Plus you'll get a certificate like this. How good is that?

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Duncan,

A great blog about an important day! I'm so glad that you and Jill could make it and paid such a huge contribution to the clean up efforts. I'm also very pleased that you took some great photos, as we failed dismally.

Jeroen

Richard Tulloch said...

well done, Duncan and Jeroen. It's a great Aussie institution now, and if I'd known it was on, i would have joined you.

And I quite agree about the deposit on plastic bottles being needed - fast!

Duncan Ball said...

Another friend pointed out that bottled mineral water should be banned. I couldn't agree more.

Anonymous said...

Duncan, I would like to have copy of that group photo above , one with fire brigade. Could you please inform me, how i get it ? is that from you ? jeroen already have my email. Thank in advance. Tanzil n Sam.