Beach Patrol 3193
Our energetic, friendly and welcoming beach patrollers meet the 1st Saturday of each month (except January). An email is sent to volunteers each month informing of the specific location to work at. Everyone is welcome.
You are notified of the specific location in the Ricketts Point Sanctuary by email each month, or check the Beach Patrol Australia website beachpatrol.com.au or our MCRP Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/MarineCareRickettsPoint/
Beach patrol provides a great opportunity to socialize while doing “your bit” for the environment; it is free to join and you get a free T Shirt on joining activities.
Although buckets and litter pickers are provided, it would help if you could bring your own bucket and litter pickers. And don’t forget to bring suitable gloves.
For further details please visit: 3193@beachpatrol.com.au
You may wish to undertake litter pick up in other sites around the Bay. To help, you can download the Litter App via the APP store or on GOOGLE play. This way you can collect and record your own litter whenever you like. Your data will then be published on BeachPatrol.com.au a week after the event.
We advocate
Banning single use plastic bags (now introduced throughout Australia, including Victoria).
Remediation work of rivers up-stream, and drains, to prevent pollution reaching the Bay.
The 10c container deposit scheme is now used in all Australian states.
We encourage you to donate any funds from the deposit scheme to 3193@beachpatrol.com.au to assist with purchasing more buckets and litter pickers.
Port Phillip Bay Litter
Over 95% of the litter on our beaches and in the Bay comes from within the Bay catchment area itself, not from the outside ocean – from the Yarra and Maribrynong rivers, other creeks and storm drains. Most of this pollution comes down the Yarra River and washes up on beach through the “Yarra Plume” phenomenon.
Check beachpatrol.com.au to see what types and amounts of litter we collect
Oceans of Plastic – Plastics Pollution
By 2050 there will be more plastic in the earth’s oceans than weight of fish! (World Economic Forum, 2016)
Plastic material is the most common litter we collect. Plastics are now one of our greatest threats to bird and marine life. They kill sea birds, fish, turtles, and other marine life; creatures that ingest or get caught in plastic die a slow, painful death
Plastics are so ubiquitous we don’t even notice them. Plastic bags, bottles, nappies balloons, cigarette butts – very little gets into recycling. They blow around, end up down drains, and invariably end up in our Bay and the oceans.
We need to recycle our plastics. If everyone does just a little bit, we can solve this problem.
Further information
- Google ‘images of plastics pollution’ to see pictures of this toxic problem
- Australian Senate Report, April 2016: Toxic Tide: The Threat of Marine Plastic https://www.aph.gov.au/parliamentary_business/committees/senate/environment_and_communications/marine_plastics/report
Also follow these links:
https://www.5gyres.org/about-us
https://www.marineconservation.org.au
http://www.plasticpollutionsolutions.com.au/
http://www.boomerangalliance.org.au/marine_plastic_pollution