Footscray residents are being invited participate in a river clean-up activity designed to tackle the issue of microplastics in local waterways.
Led by Yarra Riverkeeper’s litter officer Anthony Despotellis, the event will begin at the Footscray Art Centre, where participants will gather before heading to the Maribyrnong River to see the innovative trap designed to capture microplastics in action.
Mr Despotellis has years of experience in litter projects and said the trap is a way to address the growing problem of microplastic pollution in the rivers.
Mr Despotellis said he would then lead the participants back to the art centre to sort through the contents of the plastic the trap would catch.
“These microplastics are anywhere from, you know, five millimetres in size down to a third of a millimetre in size. So they can get quite small, but we have little tools and things to help us find them,” Mr Despotellis said.
Participants will use precision tools like fine tweezers and magnifying glasses to identify and categorise microplastics, contributing valuable data for ongoing pollution research.
The event is free and open to the general public, but a guardian must accompany those under 18.
The event will be held at Footscray Community Arts on Saturday, July 20, from 10am to noon.
Details: eventbrite.com.au/e/microplastic-rivertrap-walk-contents-sorting-maribyrnong-tickets-932163876247.
Anne Parisianne
