Barwon Heads Bluff gets by with a little help from its friends

ON SUNDAY, March 1, Friends of the Bluff (FotB) Barwon Heads and members of the community, will congregate at the Barwon Heads Bluff at 10am to clean up one of the region’s most scenic spots.

Founding FotB member Jon Duthie said he’s been keeping the area litter free for over 26 years and Clean Up Australia Day (CUAD) at the Bluff gives others the same opportunity.

“I’ve been a member of Friends of the Bluff since it began in 1994. I work in the caravan park directly below the Bluff, I’ve been here for 30 years – it’s my office,” Mr Duthie said.

“We started the group when human activity stripped the area of all its plant life and vegetation, and for the past few years we’ve run this event off the back of CUAD.

“We provide the bags and gloves and people rock up and pick up as much rubbish as they can find, then I take it home and process it. I count it and divide it into plastic, paper, metal and glass. Every year cigarette butts make up at least 60 per cent of the litter.”

Mr Duthie said on average he’s collected about 2,000 pieces of rubbish over two decades and the last couple of years, has noticed an increase in the prevalence of baby wipes.

“Last year we picked up 1,600 pieces of litter in one day and that was a quite year. That mostly came out of the car park, of that there was at least 800 cigarette butts.

“People drive up, enjoy the view, have a cigarette and then put it out on the ground. You can follow the trash trail where people drop their cigarettes and it flows down to the ocean.

“People are quite happy to leave their cans, litter and junk. Baby wipes have also started appearing more frequently around the area, one bag of rubbish gets dumped, caught in vegetation and shredded then suddenly there’s litter everywhere.

“Everyone is welcome to come along, sometimes we get a handful of people and other times there’s 20 or more.”

If you would like to attend, the event starts at 10am. FotB recommend you wear old clothes, sturdy shoes, are sun smart and bring your own refreshments. Meet at Barwon Bluff car park 27W, Bluff Road, off Ewing Blyth Drive.