Clean Up Australia Day to be hosted by Nambucca Riverwatch group Nambucca Valley Nambucca Valley - popup ad by News Of The Area - Modern Media - January 30, 2025 Lyn McGuigan, Debbie and Michael De Mol and Beverly Gibbs taking part in last year’s Clean Up Australia Day campaign in the Nambucca Valley. A CLEAN Up Australia Day event will be held at Bellwood Park in Nambucca Heads on 2 March, with locals invited to get involved. Clean Up Australia Day is the nation’s largest and longest running day of environmental action. Advertise with News of The Area today. It’s worth it for your business. Message us. Phone us – (02) 4981 8882. Email us – media@newsofthearea.com.au In the three decades since its inception, over 22 million Australians have participated in Clean Up Australia Day activities. Last year, the 2024 Clean Up Australia Day campaign collected an estimated 140,000 bags of litter nationally. “Clean Up Australia has a rich history of mobilising Australians to take practical action to clear up the massive amount of litter and waste that makes its way into our beautiful waterways and other natural surroundings,” Pip Kiernan, Chair of Clean Up Australia said in a media statement. “We know that 35 years on from when my father, Ian Kiernan, started this iconic organisation, our fight against litter is nowhere near over,” she added. Volunteers from Nambucca Riverwatch Inc. will host the event locally. “We hope many community members will join in as they have in previous years,” Beverly Gibbs of the Nambucca Riverwatch team told NOTA. “We host this event as part of our efforts to improve the local environment and maintain the health of our Nambucca River.” Ian Kiernan, the event’s creator, was said to be disgusted by the rubbish and pollution he encountered when travelling the world’s oceans as a sailor. As well as removing rubbish from the rivers and waterways, the event also serves as a timely reminder for ordinary Aussies that ‘prevention is better than cure’ and that it would be better to curb the flow of unwanted rubbish from entering the environment in the first place. Every year, a report of rubbish collected provides a snapshot of societal debris and the most recent information showed that plastics continued to dominate the tally making up more than 80 percent of all surveyed litter, an increase of four percent on the previous year’s findings. Nambucca Valley volunteers for the event are asked to report for sign-in to the amenities block at Bellwood Park, Nambucca Heads from 10am on Sunday 2 March, 2025. The event will run from 10am until 1pm. For more information, contact Beverly Gibbs on 0422 331 878 or Elizabeth Newman on 0427 687 780. By Ned COWIE
