I’m not really sure how to begin this post or describe our recent clean-up at Palm Beach. Extraordinary might be one way of putting it.  Inspiring another!! 

Whatever you want to call it, it was an amazing coming together of community to show their love for the ocean that was just wonderful to be a part of!

A stunning Winters day greeted us, as did a car park full of Porsche enthusiasts. The place was buzzing, with not a car spot in sight as 140 odd Porsches parked up to display themselves.  An interesting juxtaposition as we set up our tables, tarps & tubs ready for our trash.

Supported by The Boathouse & with well over 60 people volunteering their time this was our biggest & most exciting clean up ever!  Now that I’ve recovered from all of the excitement & had a solid night sleep I can get stuck into this blog.  It really is amazing how energy these clean-ups can give & take out of you!  It really is inspiring though!

Now I have to give the biggest shout out to The Boathouse at Palm Beach which not only offered free coffee to our volunteers (when they bought their own reusable cup of course), but put on the-most-amazing-spread for us!!  Devine fruit platters decorated with so much care & love & platefuls of Bacon & egg rolls that by all accounts were amazing!  The support that Angus & his team gave to us with the event was wonderful. I was told they made well over 700 Coffees that morning!! It’s incredibly heart-warming to have a local business give such support to such a worthy cause.  If you haven’t been down there to check out their food I would suggest you do.  It looks & tastes amazing & knowing that they support the community & give back in such an extraordinary way makes it taste even better.  These are the business’s to support!

The vibe was amazing at this clean-up! We collected a record amount of trash (full tally at the bottom of the post) with the usual culprits making a large appearance……….

• 2995 Plastic bag/wrap remnants – don’t forget your reusable bag when shopping!

• 1840- Cigarette Butts – If you smoke bin them, don’t chuck them on the ground

• 1013 – Food wrappers – Perhaps you can purchase that same item in a bulk store or make your own snacks?

• 195 – Parking Tickets – Watch that these don’t blow out of your car, they are thermal plastic, not paper & don’t degrade

We had many, many mitts getting stuck in & finding treasures, under trees, inside bushes, through the dunes, along the shoreline & into the car parks.  For everyone that came along, the biggest of love to you all for giving up your time on a Sunday morning & collecting someone else’s trash.  Those that stayed to help sort & tally the collected trash you know who you are & you are amazing!!  It’s a crappy job to get into that big pile of mess & get it into its respective recycling & general waste piles.  Thank you!!  And those that took home a “Show Bag” of recyclables when we ran out of bins, thank you, thank you, thank you!  We filled 5 large bins with the larger items being stacked beside them for the council to collect.  I’m guessing another 3 bins were carted home.  So 8 bins in total were collected – wow!  Thanks to Richard at The Northern Beaches Council for suppling bins for all of our clean-ups!

Whatever help you are able to give, trust me its appreciated.  Not only myself & the Living Ocean Team, but on behalf Ocean & her creatures. 

We stopped record amounts of trash entering the Ocean.  Rubbish that pollutes & has the potential to kill Marine life. 

You stopped the unnecessary deaths of Marine life.  Now that’s something to get out of bed for on a Sunday!

Big big thanks to Kim, one of the founding members of Living Ocean & her last clean-up before she heads to Mauritius on a new adventure & to spread the “No Plastic Please” campaign.  The biggest of hugs to the lovely Sal who works in the background organising council bins & the nitty gritty stuff & of course all of the Living Ocean crew who get in & dirty right until the last item has been counted & binned.

Next Clean-up is the 18th of September at Warriewood beach.  So get your buckets & gloves ready for another round of Ocean loving, trash collecting fun!

Oceans full of gratitude & Plastic free love

Sarah xxx