PRESS RELEASE: Results for Clean Up Australia Day
CHANGE STARTS WITH YOU
AFTER 29 YEARS NEARLY 700,000 VOLUNTEERS
STILL TAKE TO THEIR LOCAL STREETS, PARKS, BUSHLAND, BEACHES, RIVERS AND WATERWAYS TO CLEAN UP AUSTRALIA
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Kirribilli, Sydney, Sunday 3 March 2018.
During a national week of action more than 680,000 volunteers across 6,834 sites have removed an estimated 15 thousand tonnes of rubbish from their favourite parks, beaches, bushland, suburban streets and waterways across the nation.
Pip Kiernan, the new Chair of Clean Up Australia, speaking from the foreshore of Sydney Harbour where it all began 30 years ago, noted how proud she is to see so many more Australians taking up the challenge to continue her Dad’s crusade against rubbish.
“It’s amazing to see so many people are as passionate about looking after the environment as Dad was; I am confident that together we can continue to grow Clean Up Australia Day well into the future,” said Pip Kiernan.
“I would like to thank our wonderful volunteers, who have once again joined together to donate their time and energy to remove rubbish and litter that has been carelessly discarded. I am in awe of their unparalleled ability to turn our belief that change starts with you into action.”
Pip Kiernan is very passionate about why, due to our reliance on single-use packaging and plastics, Clean Up Australia and the work that they do is even more relevant than when her father, Ian Kiernan AO, forecast that plastic would be the problem item of our generation.
“As dad predicted, plastic is the main issue, comprising more than a third of the rubbish reported by our volunteers.”
“It’s time to take responsibility and make the right environmental choices every day.
Twenty years ago, Australians created just over 460kg of rubbish per person per year. Today it is more than 2,700kg, starting from the day we are born. That’s a lot of rubbish to manage!”
Making a real difference starts with looking more closely at our personal purchasing behaviour, becoming conscious of the single use products, packaging and plastics that we buy and then discard.
“We need to reduce the amount of rubbish we produce as individuals and take simple steps such as having our beverage of choice in re-useable cups and choosing products that are not pre-packaged.”
Clean Up Australia is more than just about picking up rubbish. The charity works with community, businesses and governments to implement more sustainable waste management systems and legislation.
“We will continue to work with our amazing team of volunteers towards the implementation of better environmental practices and waste management legislation. We have seen container deposit legislation adopted by most of the country and a positive movement towards reducing single use plastic bags, but there is still lots of work to do.”
Since the national event started in 1990 17.7 million Australians have donated more than 35 million hours towards caring for the environment, by removing the equivalent of 365 thousand ute loads of rubbish from more than 185 thousand registered sites across the country.
Working with limited resources, Clean Up Australia is a not-for-profit NGO which relies on corporate sponsors and donors to supply funding and resources which allows us to provide free bags, gloves and other equipment all year round.
Donations can be made online www.cleanupaustraliaday.org.au
2019 Preliminary ’Week of Action’ Results based on registered sites @ midnight 2/3/2019 – announced Sunday 3 March 2019
State or Territory Registered Sites Estimated volunteer numbers Predicted rubbish tonnage
ACT 98 15,490 216
NSW 2,766 304,266 6,063
NT 45 2,427 99
QLD 1,398 133,885 3,075
SA 412 38,444 906
TAS 237 19,994 521
VIC 1,325 102,956 2,915
WA 553 65,687 1,217
ESTIMATED TOTALS 6,834 683,149 15,012
Volunteer numbers and predicted rubbish tonnage are calculated based on End of Clean Up Reports received from 2018
-ENDS-
For any further media information or an interview,
please contact Tracey Wigg, on 0419 141 266
Email: [email protected]