KORORA Landcare volunteers got out in a downpour on the morning of Sunday, March 6 for their fifth Clean Up Australia Day.

“We had ten Korora Landcare volunteers today, a good turnout in the rain because we believe it’s a worthwhile activity,” Simon Proust, Korora Basin Landcare Coordinator, told News Of The Area.

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The team worked across Korora Basin and Beach and Sapphire Beach on both sides of the highway at Korora.

“The rubbish we pick up has usually been there a long time.

“What we are finding is that the waste is further afield these days.

“Today we picked up a lot of tyres.

“We found five down on the beach and then three others were dumped at West Korora.

“All the chairs were dumped here near Korora Reserve.

“People dump stuff they don’t want in various locations around the place hoping that someone will use it, but it sits around degenerating, so we pick those up.

“We found some sheets of old steel, a lot of old chairs that someone had thrown out and interestingly we picked up just a small amount of recycling, just a couple of bags of cans and bottles.

“A few years ago this was our most common item but these days its household and building waste.

“We found a syringe too.

“It’s the first time,” said Simon.

“Recycling is not as big as it used to be because people are using ‘cash a can’ programs, getting 10c for a can or bottle.”

Clean Up Australia specifically asked Landcare to record the number of masks collected which have been a problem in the more densely populated areas.

“We picked up just eight masks today.”

Over the five years Simon has seen changes in the things people dump.

“The first year we got a lot of plastic bags, the next year we got a lot of cans and bottles.

“In the last couple of years, we’ve had to increase our catchment area picking up tyres dumped and household and building items that people find a hassle to get rid of and don’t want to pay the council tip fees.

“Fast food, McDonalds and Kentucky Fried Chicken wrappers have dropped off.

“There’s a few in there this time, but not much.”

With the rubbish sorted and bagged-up in the Clean Up Australia sacks and the dumped furniture and tyres sorted, the pile is ready for collection.

“We estimate we have collected over 300kg of refuse today.

“Council will pick it up tomorrow morning, Monday, at 9am, as they have done every year we’ve been doing the Clean Up and I will send a report to Clean Up Australia.

“We are one of over 13,000 sites participating in Clean Up Australia today.

“Landcare gets involved because we look after the environment and rubbish is a part of the environment today.

“We don’t really want a site that we’re trying to revegetate or weed that’s got tyres or building materials on it,” said Simon.

By Andrea FERRARI