At a forum convened by Port Phillip EcoCentre, Heidi Taylor of Tangaroa Blue Ocean Care spoke of the need for active local partnerships to tackle the ever growing problem of plastic trash in waterways and oceans. Representatives of the 16 organisations present endorsed this concept and set about planning united clean up action. A key feature is that all litter collected will be recorded in order to identify the worst offenders.

All hands up for clean beaches (pic Bill McKenzie)

Baykeeper was mighty pleased to convene and facilitate the forum which created the Port Phillip Clean Beaches Coalition. Groups represented included Earthcare, 2 Hands, 3184 Beach Patrol, 3206 Beach Patrol, 3207 Beach Patrol, Friends of Webb Dock Walking Trail, Coast Monkeys, Sea Shepherd Melbourne, Surfrider Foundation Melbourne, City of Port Phillip, Healthy Waterways Program (Melbourne Water), Metropolitan Waste Management Group, Coast Action Coastcare, EPA Victoria, Port Phillip EcoCentre and Tangaroa Blue. Thanks go to Royal Melbourne Yacht Squadron for providing the meeting venue.

We hope our united action on Clean Up Australia Day will demonstrate the benefits of working together rather than in isolation. I’d be pleased to talk to others around the Bay who want to form a similar coalition in their area. Volunteers for the clean up day are encouraged to register at www.cleanupaustraliaday.org.au/

Carmel's 'colony' of rope collected on Discovery Bay beach

During the 2008-09 year, the Victorian EPA issued 19,465 litter infringement notices, around 90% involving cigarette butts tossed from vehicles, earning a $234 fine.

In March 2010, members of Transition Town Port Phillip collected and surveyed litter from St Kilda West Beach. Cigarette butts made up 39% of 816 items collected. Other common items were lolly wrappers and lolly sticks, bottle tops, cellophane and  polystyrene packaging. Fifty-two pieces of broken (bottle) glass was found partially buried in the sand.

The good news was that very few plastic 6 pack holders (known to cause penguin deaths) were found. Has industry practices, government action, or public behaviour caused this improvement? Or perhaps a combination of these? This would make an interesting case study. One thing is for sure, it wouldn’t have happened without ordinary people taking the time to show they care for their local environment.