More than 600 recyclable bottles and 60 large bags of litter were collected on Clean Up Australia Day at Wader Beach in Williamstown.
The beach is next to the Jawbone sanctuary, an ecological haven for marine life.
Australian Marine Conservation Society member Shannon Hurley was among more than 50 volunteers from several community groups who cleaned up Wader Beach on
March 1.
Volunteers also came from clean-up groups Beach Patrol and Scab Duty, Parks Victoria, and Friends of Jawbone Marine Sanctuary.
Ms Hurley said volunteers also collected 486 straws, 310 plastic bottle tops, 32 six-pack holders, plastic bags, tyres and nurdles – tiny plastic balls used by industry to make plastics, which can kill marine life if consumed.
“It’s very unlikely that it all got there from beachgoers as the sanctuary is closed off to the public,” she said. “Being brought there by currents from river systems flowing out into Port Phillip is a more likely scenario.”
Ms Hurley hoped such days would lead to changes to reduce waste in the community whether through reusing shopping bags, bulk-buying foods or refusing to use plastic bottles.
For more information or to get involved, visit Scab Duty at www.scabduty.com, Beach Patrol Williamstown at www.beachpatrol.com.au/BeachGroups/3016 or the Australian Marine Conservation Society at www.marineconservation.org.au.
Goya Dmytryshchak
