Clean sweep: Evie Monteith, Susan Monteith, Joan Halpin, Greg Ralton, Lizzie Monteith and Bill Holsworth were busy collecting rubbish at Kennington Reservoir. Picture: Josh Fagan
TELEVISIONS and fast food wrappers were among the biggest culprits uncovered in Bendigo bushland as part of Clean Up Australia Day.
The annual event drew more than 300 people to help tidy up the city.
Friends of the Kennington Reservoir president Greg Ralton said his group filled half a skip-full of rubbish yesterday – which was down on previous years.
“I think it’s improved a lot over time,” he said.
“When we started it was a full cubic metre skip. Certainly people are more aware of the issue and people are picking up their own rubbish.”
Among the volunteers pulling on the gloves was 10-year-old Lizzie Monteith who brought her mother and sister along to help out.
Lizzie said she had heard about it at school and wanted to make sure Bendigo was kept clean.
“It’s a good event,” she said. “I think I will do it every year now.”
Friends of the Kennington Reservoir secretary Bill Holsworth has been involved in every Clean Up Australia Day event since it began in 1990 and said it was disappointing that littering was still an issue.
“Ideally we’d like to see no need for a day such as Clean Up Australia Day,” he said.
More than 200,000 tonnes of rubbish has been collected across the country in the event’s 23-year history.
The City of Greater Bendigo’s senior environment officer Anthony Sheahan said the day had great local support each year.
“I think people in Bendigo do have an element of civic pride,” he said.
“There’s lots of different sites and a variety of people that get involved.”
Mr Sheahan said rubbish, particularly dumping of old household goods, was an ongoing concern.
“Most of the people do the right thing but there is a small minority that create problems,” he said.
“Bendigo is generally a tidy, presentable place but there are areas along our creek lines where rubbish does collect.”
Mr Holsworth said cleaning up rubbish and maintaining the natural beauty around Bendigo was something the Friends of the Kennington Reservoir concentrated on each day.
For more information about the group, contact Mr Holsworth on 5443 4063.