Congratulations to all the volunteers who made Clean-up Lake Burley Griffin Day 2020 a great success!
Last November, during National Recycling Week, almost 100 people headed out on foot, and by boat and kayak, to six different locations across the lake to clean up litter that had accumulated during the past year.
The volunteers pulled out 61 bags of rubbish, as well as many larger items that had been dumped in the lake.
Event Coordinator Tammy Ven Dange said there was less litter found in the lake this time compared to clean up days in previous years.
“It was great to hear from our site supervisors that there was noticeably less rubbish this year. Well done, Canberra!” said Tammy.
While there may have been less rubbish overall, the volunteers reported that most of the rubbish collected comprised of food and drink containers, including bottles, cans and cartons that would have otherwise been eligible to redeemed with the ACT Container Deposit Scheme. Instead, they were littered and left to deteriorate in the water to point they can no longer be easily refunded or recycled.
Drink containers do not have to bounce around in Lake Burley Griffin and go to waste. The ACT Deposit Scheme is set up to provide the incentive of a 10 cent refund for each container to encourage residents to divert them from ever becoming litter or landfill. Containers that are returned through the scheme are then sent to be recycled, turning what would be waste into a valuable resource.
We all want to create a cleaner, more sustainable environment here in Canberra and the right way to do that is through proactive, preventative action. We encourage you to recycle your drink containers through the scheme and help out your fellow Canberrans by giving them less work at the next clean-up.
With temperatures peaking during summer and people buying more drinks to stay cool, it becomes peak season for the scheme. We urge everyone to make sure they return their containers – and collect their 10 refunds – for sustainable summer fun that won’t leave a mark on our landscape.
You may find more information or your nearest deposit point on this website.
