Ocean Crusaders, funded by a Redland City Council Community Conservation grant have removed 6.14 tonnes of waste and rubbish from the waterways and shoreline of several southern Moreton Bay islands.
In an intensive 4 day operation, the Ocean Crusaders clean up team retrieved car tyres, flares EPIRBS and of course, the usual plastic bottles and packaging that spoils the environment for animals and humans.
Deputy Mayor Julie Talty, commented that the amount of debris collected was ‘staggering’. She joined Division 5 Councillor Mark Edwards to meet with volunteers at Weinam Creek boat ramp on Saturday to see first hand the results of the Long Island clean-up.
It is quite confronting when you see it come in on the boat. Most of what has been collected is what has been washed out to the sea through mainland flooding over many years. The plastic bottles, tins and glass bottles are mostly more recent and have been thrown overboard by boaties. Plastic waste has a significant impact on our waterways, harming our naturally wonderful bay and creek environments.
Councillor Edwards added his praise and thanks for Ocean Crusaders
They are cleaning up areas that are often out of sight and in mangrove areas. So they are really making a difference for wildlife in areas that otherwise may be overlooked.
While the Boating Industry Association says Australia’s 5 million boaters are not the problem, Ocean Crusaders General Manager Ian Thomson says that there needs to be fundamental changes to the way people think about non-compostable materials is their daily lives.
We’re cleaning up at the wrong end. It’s incredibly hard to clean where we are and it would be so much easier if we just stopped it at the shop by making smarter choices.
Where the Waste Ends Up
The work funded by the Redland City Council grant took place over 4 days.
- Day 1 – the crew removed 1.32 tonnes of general trash and 440kg of tyres from around Garden Island.
- Day 2 – A further 1.44 tonne was collected on the second day from various southern Moreton Bay areas.
- Day 3 – The third trip around Russell Island yielded 1 tonne of trash and 29 tyres (580kg).
- Day 4 – Working on the southern tip of Long Island foreshore, the team collected over 1.36 tonnes of debris including 320kg of tyres.