FRANKSTON beach is well loved for its long sandy coastline and safe, clear waters, but that popularity brings the inevitable – rubbish.
Volunteer group 3199 Frankston Beach Patrol is asking residents and visitors to be part of the solution on Sunday 5 March by taking part in Clean Up Australia Day at the iconic bayside beach.
The volunteer organisation picks up rubbish every month from Frankston’s coastline, and in November, collected more than 500 bottles and 118 shopping bags weighing around 146kg from the base of Olivers Hill.
Founded in 2015, the group holds one-hour clean-ups at Olivers Hill, South, Wells St and Long Island beaches, and in 2016 removed 791kgs of mostly plastics bottles, straws and confectionary wrappers.
Much of this waste ends up staying permanently in the ocean and potentially contributes to the massive, 700,000 square-metre plastic waste mass trapped in the North Pacific dubbed ‘The Great Pacific Garbage Patch’.
Group manager of the clean-up patrol, John Billing, said many people were not aware that an estimated eight million tonnes of plastic waste washes into the oceans every year.
“As a result, marine wildlife such as fish and birds mistake this litter for food,” he said,
“Plastics, in particular, clog up their digestive system and as a result, they (marine wildlife) die of starvation.”
See cleanupaustraliaday.org.au/Olivers+Hill or call 0414 090 767 for more information.