In March this year, several Point Advisory team members had the pleasure of volunteering with Ramona from Beach Patrol down in Port Melbourne. The team spent a couple of hours collecting rubbish along the beach and foreshore, recording the volumes of different types of rubbish. Significant amounts of plastics and other rubbish flows into the bay from the surrounding streets and the Yarra River which enters the bay close to Port Melbourne beach. We collected around 3,000 small pieces of plastic, food wrappers, cups, straws, bottles and cigarette butts weighing more than 10kg. Unfortunately, in a few hours we only scratched the surface, and there was still a lot more rubbish left on the beach and floating in the water.
Beach Patrol Australia addresses the marine litter crisis through direct action, engaging with suburb-based community groups to undertake local clean ups. Starting in 2009 with a couple of residents in Middle Park meeting regularly to clean up their local beach, Beach Patrol has grown to 29 groups across Victoria with over 1500 regular volunteers signed up to help keep our beaches clean.
It was a highly rewarding opportunity for the Point Advisory team and eye-opening experience seeing first-hand the extent of rubbish washing up on our beaches and in the oceans. Point Advisory are planning on participating in Beach Patrol’s annual ‘Spring Clean the City’ event on Saturday September 21, joining hundreds of other volunteers in cleaning up the streets of Melbourne’s CBD.
To find out more about Beach Patrol and their corporate volunteering opportunities, click here.