Will you help Save Our Seas this year?

As Keep Australia Beautiful Week rolls around again, we’re glad to report there’s an increasing downward trend in public litter. That said, the task at hand is far from over.

The results of the 2017 Keep Australia Beautiful National Litter Index have shown an overall 4.3 per cent reduction of litter counted, however many significant reductions were offset by a disappointing increase of litter at beach sites (+15.9 per cent).

Considering Earth is almost 71 per cent water, dumped or discarded litter can travel far and wide, which could explain why our focus this year is drawn to keeping our waterways clean with the theme of SOS – Save Our Seas.

Did you know that
• Approximately 10 million tonnes of litter end up in the world’s oceans and seas each year.
• It is estimated that 70% of marine litter is on the seabed, 15% is floating in the water column and 15% is what we find on our shores.
• Marine litter consists of a wide range of materials, including plastic, metal, wood, rubber, glass and paper. However, it is dominated by plastic which accounts for 80% of the items found on our beaches.

Keep Australia Beautiful Week 2018 will take place from next Monday 20th August to Sunday 26th, and is sponsored by the Department of the Environment. If you’re interested in being an active part of the solution this year, register to be part of the Keep Our Waterways Beautiful competition on their website.