PEOPLE are striving to keep Ballarat beautiful, as Clean Up Australia Day approaches on 1 March.<\/p>\n
That Sunday, groups will be based at the Yarrowee River by the Redan Wetlands, and Lucas, to free the natural and suburban environments of litter.<\/p>\n
Friends of the Yarrowee\u2019s Col Palmer used to walk his dogs by the creek. He said it\u2019s a popular spot for walkers, but it\u2019s heavily polluted.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not maintained so litter doesn\u2019t get collected here anymore as it should. There\u2019s no shortage of litter,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cEach Clean Up Australia Day, we clean it up beautifully and next year we get another half a skip full. Plastic is just everywhere. It finishes up in the creek because that\u2019s where all the drainage goes.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery plastic straw, every coffee cup, every vinyl gym bag, whatever… they\u2019re down here. It\u2019s terrible.\u201d<\/p>\n
This year Mr Palmer is hoping for plenty of volunteers to meet at the wetlands at 10am to break off into teams of five or 10, move towards the south and collect as much rubbish as they can.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey won\u2019t be coming down wasting their time. Let\u2019s just do our little bit,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis plastic in the creek will finish up in the ocean. This is Ballarat\u2019s problem, it\u2019s created here, so let\u2019s have Ballarat people take responsibility for it and educate everybody.\u201d<\/p>\n
John Van Styn is part of the Lucas Community Representative Group and the leader of Clean Up Lucas. The amount of litter in the new area\u2019s creeks and waterways is a concern for him.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a huge amount of rubbish being blown from worksites there and rubbish left next to big bins,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re working in conjunction with Sunday Sweep and have been in contact with the two schools. The idea of our group is to bring community together.\u201d<\/p>\n