Ready for biggest clean-up

Hundreds of volunteers will pull on gloves at more than 30 sites on Sunday as the Moreton Bay region joins Clean Up Australia Day.

From Albany Creek to Clontarf and Burpengary to Bribie, community groups and individuals have registered with Australia’s biggest environmental movement.

They include BIEPA (Bribie Island Environmental Protection Association) which will be out in force again on Sunday from 7-9am.

Volunteers and members of the public will be collecting rubbish along Hornsby Rd, Bongaree, east of the yellow boom gates including the bush areas around Dux Creek.

BIEPA, formed in 1978 to help protect the “natural wonders of Bribie”, cleans-up throughout the year including marine debris along Pumicestone Passage and Bribie’s ocean-side beaches.

Full details of BIEPA’s clean-up event can be found here. Participants are encouraged to register to help organisers prepare.

Since its start in 1989, more than 23 million volunteers have taken part in Clean Up Australia Day. Last year more than 800,000 helped at 8000 events across the country.

Drink bottles and cans, cigarette stubs and plastic bags were among the most prominent litter types found, with e-waste (vapes and batteries) now also in the top 10.

Eighty-one per cent of all counted litter from national parks, bushland and waterways are now plastics.

“Our nation's litter disposal and recycling challenges are continuously shifting,” Pip Kiernan, Chair of Clean Up Australia and daughter of founder Ian, said.

“But the one thing we know for certain, is that too much litter is still making its way into our streets, parks, bushlands and waterways.”

Australia now produces 2.5 million tonnes of plastic waste each year, equating to 100kg-per-person. Of this, only 13 per cent of plastic is recovered and 84 per cent of it is sent to landfill.

Around 130,000 tonnes of plastic we consume, contaminates the marine environment each year. By 2025 it is predicted 99 per cent of seabirds worldwide will have ingested plastic.

“Now is the time to get your gloves on and get involved. Clean Up Australia Day is about coming together, as neighbours, communities and fellow Aussies for a common goal,” Pip said.

“Whether you're hitting the beach, cleaning a creek, or picking up litter in your local park, your efforts count. When we come together, we create real, visible change.”