This Sunday, March 6th is Clean Up Australia Day so let's all do what we can to help clean up our beautiful country. Some ideas include cleaning our homes, picking up rubbish from our beaches and Plogging, a new way to combine rubbish pick up and jogging. The team at F&F set off around our warehouse which backs onto a huge nature reserve and collected all sorts of rubbish. We weighed the rubbish back at the warehouse on our scales and collected over 10kg of rubbish! We were absolutely blown away from this and it just goes to show that putting an hour aside to do a clean up at work can really make a difference.
What is Clean Up Australia Day?
Clean Up Australia Day is an event every year where we really focus on cleaning up our local community whether that be beaches, bush or our local streets and neighbourhood. It was started in 1990 after a sailor, Ian, decided there was simply too much waste in the seas and we needed to do something about it. Since 1990 this annual event has happened every year. Over 344 thousand tonnes of rubbish has been collected!
Looking for some local events or ideas of what you can do to help? You can find lots of ideas on the Clean Up Australia website.
Clean Up Australia Events
2022 Events
- Business Clean Up Australia Day is Tuesday, March 1st - Speak to your colleagues about going around collecting rubbish in the area, or sort your rubbish and recycling in the office!
- Schools Clean Up Australia Day is Friday, March 4th - most schools participate in this and one of our team members Jodie has kids who's school nominates waste warriors in classes. Very cool!
- Clean Up Australia Day is Sunday, March 6th - Do this with friends, family or organise an event with your local community— it's a great way to meet your neighbours!
There are many things we can do on Clean Up Australia Day, and every other day, to help minimise waste and clean up our beautiful planet. Here are a few of our ideas....
Cleaning Up Your Office/ Business
1. Clean Up Your Office - Take some time out to clean up your office, clean your desks and all the communal areas. Give the place a Spring clean with natural cleaning products of course!
2. Manage your Waste - Do you have separate bins for recycling, composting and waste for landfill? At F&F we have different bins for all the different types of waste so we can manage them separately. It's not enough to have them in a communal area; have different bins under people's desks. Also consider TerraCycle boxes for recycling snack wrappers, pens and lots more.
3. Go Digital - Instead of printing off documents go digital. Share documents over dropbox or google drive and use contract tools like DocuSign.
4. Clean Up your Local Area - grab a group and walk the streets armed with gloves and bags to pick up litter.
Clean Your Home
What is Plogging?
Plogging is a way to pick up rubbish quickly and is a combination of jogging with picking up litter, a movement that gained popularity in Sweden around 2016.
Want to try logging yourself? Strap on your runners and take a backpack or bag (one of Onya’s backpacks is perfect, as it's so lightweight, or a running backpack). When you see some rubbish pick it up then make sure it gets recycled or disposed of properly. If you're not sure how to dispose of something responsibly, check out our super handy Recycling 101 guide. It has become very popular in Sweden so let’s get this movement started in Australia!
Walk The Street/Beach
Jogging isn't for everyone, so go on a bushwalk or beach walk with friends and family and pick up some rubbish. Organise clean-ups with friends to look after your local community.
We are very lucky to be surrounded by gorgeous beaches and bush in Australia, but with this comes the responsibility to look after our country and keep it clean.
Take 3 For The Sea is a movement we really love that encourages everyone to pick up at least 3 pieces of rubbish when you visit the beach. Read more about it in our World Oceans Day blog.
Clean Out Your Wardrobe
Donate your clothes to people that might need them. Make sure they don’t go into landfill, they can definitely be used again. We have heard quite a few teenagers are now having recycling 'parties' where they will go to one person's house with their unwanted clothes and do swaps. A whole new wardrobe with no landfill.
Make sure to check out our Ultimate Spring Cleaning Checklist for lots of tips on what to do with your old clothes. Did you know you can send your old socks and undies to Upparel to be recycled?
Clean Up Your Home and Garage
Many of us have items hanging around when we probably don’t need them so let’s have a tidy up and dispose of what we don’t need properly. Recycle, reuse or compost what you can.
The garage is a big one to tackle, as miscellaneous things usually get tossed in there. Sort through any items you no longer use and divide them into things you can sell (on Gumtree or Facebook Marketplace), things you can donate (Vinnies, or any other op shops), and things you can recycle.
Reduce Your Waste
The most beneficial thing we can do is prevent further waste so let’s have a think about what we can reduce in our everyday lives. Key items we need to reduce include disposable straws, disposable coffee cups, single-use plastic water bottles and single-use plastic bags. We’d like to see everyone commit to not using those today!
Luckily, we've got lots of reusable alternatives available including reusable straws, reusable shopping bags and produce bags, KeepCups and reusable coffee cups and water bottles. We have a whole list here of alternatives you can use to help reduce your waste.
So what will you commit to this Clean Up Australia Day?
If you liked this blog, you might enjoy some other Eco New blogs:
Help This World Environment Day
Behind The Ban on Plastic Bags
Your Ideas for a Plastic Free Life
