Sutherland Shire Cleanup Paddle

On Sunday the 13th December Sutherland Shire Canoe Club participated in a clean-up paddle on the Woronora River. Seventeen members attended, with five of these members being from our Junior Development Squad.  The clean-up took place in an area only accessible by kayak. The Sutherland Shire Council supplied us with bags and gloves, and luckily the Council offered to pick the rubbish up as we had 68.6 kilos of rubbish. There was a range of rubbish, from tiny bits of plastic, plastic and glass bottles, old clothes, rope and fishing line. We even found a very old glass Shelley’s soft drink bottle.

Back at the club house three members walked along the foreshore and picked up 9.6 kilos of rubbish, this included, I hate to say, a dirty nappy surrounded by baby wipes. There are four bins at the park, I don’t understand why this would have been left on the grass.

The members were very enthusiastic with joining in and helping.  I’m very proud of the juniors and how they were self-motivated with picking up the rubbish for the time we were out there.

Although it’s disappointing to see so much rubbish, it is fun getting together with other members and participating in a worthwhile course. Our club will be continuing with clean up days and concentrating on places which are only accessible by kayaks.

A big thank you to everyone who helped.
Robyn Bingle

PNSW note:
The challenge is on… Log how much your rubbish your club collects from waterways and shorelines/riverbanks! Send your stats to us every quarter (admin@paddlensw.org.au) and log your results on the Litter Stopper app (click on ‘registered organisation’ – ‘PaddleNSW’ – then enter your club name as part of the location).

Prize for the club/group with the most rubbish collected!

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