Coming together as ‘War on Waste – Newington and Wentworth Point’, the group has been cleaning up the shores of Haslams Creek near Newington.
A clean-up in February saw them collect 15 bags of rubbish in just one-and-a-half hours, with a quick count from just a few bags revealing over 360 straws and 380 bottle tops.
Sixteen bags, including confectionery wrappers, plastic bags, bottle tops, straws and polystyrene were also collected on Clean Up Australia Day.
While SOPA prevents large volumes of waste from entering the environment – 82 tonnes was removed from over 40 gross pollutant traps, 76 stormwater litter baskets and more than 10 floating litter booms across the Park in 2017-18 – waste continues to be an issue.
Litter can smother mangrove and saltmarsh seedlings, endanger wildlife, and be carried out to sea.
Future clean-ups are scheduled for the first weekend of the month and more information is available facebook.com/war.on.waste.newington.wwp.
