Clean up with Surfrider

Happy New Year – I’m excited that Surfrider South Coast can share in the first issue of the Flame. I’ve got some great news and an invite too!

Last May the surfing and ocean-loving community came together for a paddle out at the Farm in Killalea State Park to oppose the proposed tourist park development on sacred Dharawal land… and we won!

We are pleased to announce that National Parks has taken over the care of Killalea State Park and the community can continue to enjoy access and the beauty of the natural landscape.

To celebrate we ask that you bring your board to the ‘YES’ paddle out party at the Farm on February 6 at 11am.

Harbour clean-up nets 34kg of rubbish

Being a volunteer for the Surfrider Foundation not only allows you to make your stretch of the beach a better place, it has also brings together like-minded people. On World Oceans Day last year, a group of us gathered at Wollongong Harbour to do a clean up. Despite Surfrider South Coast recently having installed 15 Ocean Friendly Drain Buddies to capture and sieve garbage before it hits the beaches and the harbour, we still managed to collect 34 kilograms of garbage.

While many Australian beaches appear to be quite clean, recent research calculates that 70 percent of garbage that enters our oceans sinks to the sea bed, 15 percent floats and the other 15 percent ends up on beaches. That is what we can see anyway; however, the microfibres, tyre dust and unidentifiable microplastics that are not visual are expected to double by 2025.

The impacts of plastic not only affect the health of our oceans and marine ecosystems, it also affects human health. As individuals we can make choices with our wallets by refusing to buy plastic products, and with our pens by writing and posting our dislike of unnecessary plastics to companies who refuse to move away from plastic.

Next Clean Up on Saturday, January 29

Every bit of plastic we use now will be there for future generations. As a society we are far too reliant on plastic, so unless we STOP and find solutions that are compatible with nature, the planet will continue to choke on plastic. We cannot recycle our way out of this mess, and reducing use of something so permanent is a temporary fix.

Our Earth contains one contiguous body of water – we are one ocean and we all live downstream. Plastic is leaching into us and our oceans. We need to reuse what we already have, repair what we can, reduce our dependence on plastic, recycle whatever plastic we must buy and REFUSE plastic whenever we can.

Please meet us at the Wollongong Harbour boat ramp for our January clean up on Saturday, 29 January at 9am. See you there!