Get your gloves on for Clean Up Australia Day 2024

Published on 30 January 2024

Kempsey Shire is participating in Clean Up Australia Day 2024, the nation's largest community-based environmental event, held across February, March and April, with their flagship event held annually on the first Sunday in March

Registration for Clean Up Australia Day is free for communities, schools and youth groups (businesses pay a small fee) and this ensures that not only are you covered by public liability insurance, but you'll also receive a free Clean Up Australia kit, which contains gloves, bags for rubbish and recyclables, instructions and a high vis vest for the leader of larger groups.

Registering your clean up event is also important because it tracks how many people are participating in the event, and most importantly, allows you to log what you find

For example, because of data collected by volunteers, it's known that almost 2/3 of what people collected in 2022 was made of plastic, and cigarette butts have always been the most collected item!

But volunteers are reporting new menaces - like vapes (e-cigarettes), nangs (nitrous oxide bulbs) and face masks for example, so this data has proven to be an invaluable resource in identifying trends in the types and spread of rubbish throughout Australia.

Individuals are welcome to register for a clean-up, or you can ask to join an existing group using the site search function to find an open event near you.

When you're choosing a site to clean up, look for an area near you that you think would benefit from a Clean Up; this could be a beach, waterway, park or any shared space.

When choosing somewhere to clean, choose somewhere safe, away from cars (no sides of the road, please).

Once you have chosen your location, register your Clean Up site on the Clean Up Australia website so that other people can see where clean ups in their local area are.

Once you have collected your rubbish, you can dispose of it, free of charge, at our waste transfer stations at Stuarts Point and South West Rocks, and our Kempsey Waste Management Centre on Crescent Head Road.

Although the official clean up date is 3 March 2024, you can register a clean up date from February to April - so if you can't make 3 March, don't fret - choose another day!

We would love it if you could send a before and after pic of the area you have cleaned up and we will share your good work on our social channels!