LAST year, during Clean Up Australia Day, nearly half of the rubbish was retrieved from local waterways. 
This year the ACT government is encouraging the community to help improve the health of local waterways this Sunday, March 5.
Director-general, Environment, Planning and Sustainable Development Directorate Dorte Ekelund says: “Last year more than 8000 Clean Up volunteers spent over 16,000 volunteer hours to remove an estimated 237.6 tonnes of rubbish in the ACT.
“Of this, 44 per cent of surveyed rubbish was retrieved from our local waterways.
“This year all 117 registered Clean Up sites will benefit water catchment areas across the region. I encourage people to join a site to help remove rubbish causing harm to our waterways and local wildlife.”
Today, staff in the Environment, Planning and Sustainable Development Directorate will be hosting a clean-up site as part of the Business Clean Up Day
From 12pm to 2pm they will target the area between Lyneham Wetlands and Dickson Pond, along the Dickson channel of Sullivan’s Creek.
Ekelund says while Clean Up Australia Day is an important annual reminder to help our environment, keeping rubbish out of our parks, streets and waterways is a job for 365 days of the year.
“To help improve the health of lakes and rivers throughout Canberra and the surrounding region, we recently launched a new education program which aims to reduce pollutants entering our waterways by engaging with the community and building a culture of mindful behaviours,” he says.
“The key message of the program is ‘only rain down the stormwater drain.’”
“The H2OK: Keeping our waterways healthy education program highlights key habits that contribute to poor water quality such as littering, raking or blowing leaves into stormwater drains, over-fertilising and washing cars in driveways.”
H2OK: Keeping our waterways healthy is part of a joint Federal and ACT Government initiative to improve water quality in the ACT and wider Murray Darling Basin.
Information at cleanupaustraliaday.org.au/
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