Thanks for your interest in volunteering for an event. As people register their clean-up sites, a statewide map of sites will be populated with coordinator contact information so you can link up with those in your area.
The 2021 Western Australia Beach Clean-up Report summarises the state-wide clean-ups from Tangaroa Blue Foundations’ annual event. Over 90 organisations, volunteer groups, community members and businesses joined in the 2021 Western Australian Beach Clean-up. At 100 events, over 3 tonnes of debris wasremoved by 1,439 volunteers over 3,800 hours and 214 kilometres. While fewer events were held in 2021 than 2020 and 2019, more volunteers contributed to the event and collected a larger weight of debris over a greater distance.
In recent weeks, there have been several reports of silver canisters being found during beach clean-ups. These items are considered extremely dangerous and must be reported immediately by calling 000. These canisters are filled with aluminium phosphide, a toxic combination of chemicals that are fatal to ingest or inhale. One of the most concerning aspects of these canisters is that they have no label, and for the curious mind they are tempting to pick up. The most recent sighting was
The Tangaroa Blue team have been finding a number of EcoBricks washing up along the Australian coast over the past few years. For those of you who don’t know, EcoBricks are PET bottles packed solid with clean and dry used plastic. EcoBricks are made manually to a set density to sequester plastic and create reusable building blocks. In this way EcoBricks aim to contribute to a circular economy, especially in countries where plastic litter is easy to find so it
In an Australian first, the Australian Marine Debris Initiative (AMDI) has released monitoring protocols for litter and marine debris. These proven methodologies have been developed in collaboration with experts from UNSW, UTAS, SCU, MU as well as the Tangaroa Blue Foundation data team. They offer a standardised approach for citizen scientists collecting this important data on a national scale.
Thanks to the tireless efforts and lobbying from conservation partners, community organisations and the general public, 7 out of 8 Australian states and territories have now pledged to end single-use plastics. The types of plastics vary slightly from jurisdictions, but any step to remove millions of plastic items from ending up in either landfill or our oceans is a step in the right direction. Most recently (2022) the Northern Territory joined the list, releasing their NT Circular Economy Strategy 2022-2027
Did anyone else get a little emotional watching the video as the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) reached a resolution to create an intergovernmental committee to negotiate and finalise a global treaty on the plastics crisis by 2024? More than 100 countries attended the UNEA summit- either in person or virtually in Nairobi, Kenya. The United Nations have described this landmark announcement as “the most significant green deal since the 2015 Paris climate agreement” and have also stated the need
The Rig Recycle concept was developed by Tangaroa Blue Foundation and is an initiative of ReefClean. It was developed to help overcome issues such as pollution from discarded fishing gear, while also reducing the amount of waste sent to landfill. In an Australian first, it is now possible to recycle your unwanted fishing tackle at all Queensland BCF – Boating, Camping, Fishing stores through a new recycling pilot. Tangaroa Blue Foundation in partnership with fishing conservation charity OzFish Unlimited launched
During December 2021, Tangaroa Blue Foundation Project Coordinator Casey Woodward worked with an incredible team from The Movement South West to retrieve 353 kgs of trawling rope that had washed up and lodged itself in limestone rock on a remote part of beach, south of Injinup Point in Western Australia. It was a huge task to take on and this team did so with enthusiasm and grit. We are very grateful to each volunteer for their efforts. You can watch
A shocking one billion waste tyres are generated worldwide each year. Working out what to do with them is one of the biggest waste challenges we face today. The Australian government is investing in solutions that shreds tyres into ‘rubber crumb’ to build playground surfaces and infill artificial turf. Unfortunately, this is not the solution it seems. A new study shows rubber crumb playgrounds release an estimated 1.2 million crumbs on average into the immediate environment, while other research suggests
