Rubbish crusade reaches month-long milestone

A CORE group of dedicated volunteers has continued to make a tangible difference to the Torquay community and environment over the past month.

Since February 26, the Torquay Rubbish Rangers have accumulated bag after bag of rubbish containing all sorts of items from thrown away masks to used flares, all while keeping the group as strong as it began.

“The more people that come each week, the more reward people find from participating,” Torquay Rubbish Rangers coordinator Dean Walton said.

 

 

The rangers achieved the one-month mark since the group’s formation entering the month of April, operating in and around pockets of Torquay and Jan Juc.

Areas frequented by rangers include along the foreshore, Taylor Park, Cosy Corner and Spring Creek Reserve.

“It has been great during our first month and a bit,” Mr Dalton said.

“We’re getting a group of helpers each week between eight and 12 people with a core group of six or seven,” Mr Dalton said.

“Most of our new helpers continue to come through Facebook given it’s our only method of promotion and our level of production in terms of picking up rubbish remains high.”

 

 

 

Over the past month, the rangers have the most profound effect in areas coined as “junkyards” according to Mr Dalton.

“Duffields Road towards Jan Juc and Coombes Road out the back of Torquay seems to be a bit of a dumping ground,” Mr Dalton said.

“We send a couple of volunteers to those spots each week and they pull together three to four bags of rubbish each time within an hour of work, which tends to be a lot of general household rubbish including bottles and cans.

“Once we get those areas sorted down the track, we should expect the vast majority of the rubbish we collect to dwindle down.”

 

 

 

The last month for Torquay Rubbish Rangers has also seen the camaraderie improve with therapeutic benefits being a common thread of feedback from participants.

“More and more people that join us are saying they find it quite calming and almost meditative for them,” Mr Walton said.

“One of our younger participants, a grade one child who has been collecting with us the past few weeks, is super happy when she collects a big bag of rubbish knowing that she has done a good thing for the environment and the animals who live in it.
“It’s terrific to see.”

The next step for Mr Dalton is spreading the word of mouth to local schools to teach young students the importance of keeping the community free of rubbish.

Torquay Rubbish Rangers meet each Sunday at the top of Salty Dog Cafe on Torquay’s Esplanade at 9am sharp until 10am.

Anyone is welcome to join.