26 Feb, 2015

Calling All Volunteers… Clean Up Australia Day 2015

City of Adelaide’s support for Clean Up Australia Day now spans 11 year and this year Council is once again urging local residents and visitors to roll up their sleeves, don a hat and a pair of gloves and join the public clean-up in Ellis Park / Tambawodli on West Terrace (next to Adelaide High School) from 9am on Sunday 1 March.

Last year more than 80 people partook in the day, spanning the very young through to the not so young, from able bodied to partly abled and Council is hoping to raise the number of participants even higher this year.

Every participant is rewarded with a certificate of appreciation, a bottle or two of iced cold water and a thank you BBQ lunch hosted by Lord Mayor Martin Haese.

“Each year Clean Up Australia Day fosters a great sense of community pride, and as this will be my first Clean Up Day as Lord Mayor, so I’m keen to roll my sleeves up, get involved and meet some of the wonderful volunteers who help keep Adelaide beautiful,” said Martin.

“We’re privileged in Adelaide to have the beautiful Park Lands surrounding our CBD and available to the whole community, so we really do owe it to ourselves and to future generations to preserve and honour the natural environment so people can continue to enjoy it long into the future,” he said.

Many groups and individuals view their annual participation in Clean Up Australia Day as a great way of helping Adelaide’s Park Lands, Squares and streets to remain clean and tidy and ultimately enjoyable for everyone.

Richard Toomer, team leader of Council’s Cleansing Team knows only too well the amount of litter generated by city users each day, and wants to continue educating people about the ways their seemingly small actions can have a huge cumulative affect the environment for many years to come.

“While most people do the right thing most of the time, we should all understand that the costs of cleaning up irresponsible rubbish disposal are borne by everyone. Some of the funds we allocate to keeping the streets clean could easily be redirected towards other community initiatives if everyone was more mindful of the ways they dispose of their litter.

“City of Adelaide has collected an average of four-point-seven tonnes of rubbish from streets, parks and illegal dumping each day, which amounts to almost 4000 tonnes of rubbish in just two years,” he said.

“Everyone needs to make a conscious effort to dispose of their litter responsibly for all our sakes, people are really doing themselves a disservice when they litter.”

Volunteers for Clean Up Australia Day will be provided gloves, water and sunscreen at the event when they register and need to wear closed toe shoes. Children under 14 must be accompanied by an adult.

Groups, including schools and community organisations can pre-register by logging onto www.cleanupaustraliaday.org.au/Tambawodli+-+Ellis+Park or simply turn up on the day and register.

Note: Lord Mayor Martin Haese will be available to media between 11.40am and noon on Sunday.

Paula Stevens