The Australian Marine Debris Initiative is a network of communities, schools, industries, government agencies and individuals focused on reducing the amount of marine debris washing into our oceans.
On every beach around Australia you will find some form of marine debris, from litter left by visitors to international debris, to ghost nets or rubbish washed from far inland through stormwater drains.
The statistics are horrifying with the United Nationals' Regional Seas Program estimating more than 18,000 pieces of plastic in each square kilometre of ocean; and other research estimating more than 8 million tonnes of debris entering the world's oceans each year. The majority of this marine debris is plastic, which due to its chemical makeup is a long lasting material. Plastics, once released into the environment, never biodegrade, instead photodegrading breaking into smaller and smaller pieces of the original item, forever remaining in the environment.
The Australian Marine Debris Initiative is a way that everyone can become involved in both the removal of marine debris and finding solutions to stop the flow of rubbish into our oceans.
Tackle the Tackle is a community project managed by 3199 Beach Patrol, aiming to reduce fishing tackle litter, following a source reduction plan workshop hosted by Tangaroa Blue and Frankston City Council. Read more “Tackling the Tackle in Frankston”
In April, Tangaroa Blue Foundation and We-Refill joined together for a beach clean-upduring BluesFest,one of Australia’s longest-running and largest music festivals. The clean-up event was part of the global launch of the #BYOBottle campaign, and they had a little help from their friends. While bands were playing and festival-goers were reveling, a few stars took some time out to join a crew of volunteers to give back. Read more “Stars Shine a Light on Marine Debris”
Great news! Single-use plastics will no longer be issued from Victoria’s Bayside Council’s Corporate Centre and libraries by the end of June this year.
Other Council-owned properties such as community centres and senior citizen centres will stop using single-use plastics by the end of June 2020 as Council commits to a future of zero single-use plastics.
This great initiative was proposed by Elizabeth Jensen President of Marine Care Ricketts Point who explained: “Beach Patrol volunteers spend countless hours cleaning rubbish from our beaches. By far the single biggest waste item we collect is plastics. Over 95% of rubbish on our beaches comes from the rivers and stormwater drains of Port Phillip Bay. This decision will help save our marine life and keep our beaches safe.” Read more “Zero Plastics by Mid-2020”
Representatives from across the chemistry industry and supply chain showed up in force Read more “2019 Nurdle Hunt Success!”
Plastics Out of the Ocean with ORCV
Last month the Ocean Racing Club of Victoria (ORCV) hosted the 2019 Melbourne to Apollo Bay yacht race, in conjunction with a new initiative for the health of our oceans.
Alvaro Maz, a member of the Faster Forward crew led a pilot campaign called Plastics out of the Ocean, raising awareness of and sharing ideas about ocean conservation amongst the sailing community. “As someone who cares about the health of our planet, I’ve always been interested in ways that I can have an impact that scales; something that can change behaviour and the value we put on our natural environment, not just create more choices to greenwash our everyday living”, writes Maz.
In just 4 weeks the initiative was able to garner the support of the ORCV and race Steering Committee and spread the word to all Apollo Bay race competitors. Encouraging the reduction of plastics on board and sharing sustainable ways of running boats, teams also fundraised a total $2,525 for the campaign, which they have chosen to donate to the Tangaroa Blue Foundation.
Special thanks go to Algy Rose, Blue Water Tracks, Shimmer and Faster Forward crews for your support.
But it doesn’t end there! With a successful trial under their belt, the team from ORCV plan to extend their crowd-funding campaign to the biggest event in the sailing calendar, the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race.
Thank you ORCV for your efforts and generosity, and we look forward to the next chapter of Plastics Out of the Ocean!
To read the full story, visit: https://orcv.org.au/apollo-bay-blog/5006-save-the-ocean-protect-your-passion-make-an-impact
Written by Alexis Farr
