Coastal champion collects rubbish and highlights local litter problem

A LOCAL man has spent the last two years picking up and recording litter on Ocean Grove beach.
He has created a dataset that shows the truth of just how big our local litter problem is. Coastal managers Barwon Coast are praising this local resident as an unsung coastal champion.
He regularly walks Ocean Grove Beach from access point 6W to 14W and collects and records litter along the way.
Barwon Coast Community Liaison and Education Manager Maddie Glynn said every single piece of litter that was collected was preventing that litter from doing harm to the natural environment and contributing to amazing biodiversity outcomes.
“This resident does this off his own back, as he is aware of the devastating impacts litter has on both the land and sea environments, not to mention the aesthetic values of the area,” Ms Glynn said.
“The data submitted so far has indicated we have a real issue here and one that is increasing. “This data is on the rubbish that has not made it out to sea.
“You have to wonder how much has already been taken out with the daily changing tides.”
Ms Glynn said the data reflected that from early 2017 to April 2019 along approximately 2.5 kilometres of coastal Crown land, around 70,000 pieces of rubbish and in excess of 14,500 pieces of dog poo had been scooped up and removed from our environment by this coastal champion.
“The data is not reflecting any pattern of use at this point, with the highest recordings for litter varying – July for rubbish and the most dog waste recorded in March and May,” she said.
“This local hero has tallied recordings for the first four months of 2019 and the dog waste tally was already at 2692 and rubbish had hit 9641 pieces.
“This was collected over 91 days and is already exceeding previous years data.”
Ms Glynn said it had also been recorded that there was an increase in litter along the intertidal zone around three to four days after a rain event.
“This reiterates the importance of picking up all rubbish as you see it along the streets and car parks before it is washed onto the beach,” she said.
“Hopefully this data will make us all think about what type of landscape we wish to live in and how simple actions lead to great things.
“We thank this local resident for his amazing efforts and acknowledges him as one of our truly amazing Coastal Champions.”
Do you know a Coastal Champion? Let Barwon Coast know at [email protected] or by tagging them on social media.