Volunteers from Mapoon Land and Sea Rangers, Conservation Volunteers Australia, GhotsNets Australia and Tangaroa Blue spent 5 days removing 3687kg of rubbish from Mapoon Back Beach. Along with 2563 gill net floats (that you can buy from them), 877 cigarette lighters they also collected 7154 orphan thongs - smashing the Cape York record.
Did the all the debris go to landfill? Nope. Eight silo bags of plastic were diverted from landfill, compacted and sent to Brisbane for recycling. Several other organisations worked cooperatively with the group. To find out more you can be inspired by reading the whole article here on the Tangaroa Blue website.
Congratulations to all volunteers and partner organisations for a spectacular effort!
Thanks also to Caring for Our Country for providing funding assistance.
Teachers wishing to incorporate Marine Stormwater Pollution into their teaching plans can visit AUSMEPA's website here.
www.ausmepa.org.au
