Superheroes fight grime
RONALD McDonald and environmentally conscious superhero Captain Planet have teamed up to take pollution down to zero tomorrow as part of Clean Up Australia Day.
This is the 25th Clean Up Australia Day — it began in 1990 — and staff at Geelong West McDonald’s are getting behind the initiative.
The staff will join volunteers at Rippleside Park to tidy up the area and remove any rubbish.
To add some fun to the day, they will be dressing up as superheroes to encourage more people to come out and do their bit to keep the community clean.
McDonald’s Geelong West licensee Stuart Coomes called on everyone in the community to get involved.
“Over the last 25 years, volunteers have removed an estimated 288,650 tonnes of rubbish from across the country,” Mr Coomes said.
“This year, crew and residents from Geelong West will be showing their strong community spirit and encouraging even more members of the community to get involved in cleaning up on the day.”
Last year about 519,000 volunteers pulled on gloves and got down and dirty, picking up 13,961 tonnes of waste carelessly left in parks, streams, streets and bushland.
A report by the Clean Up Australia Day organisation found cigarette butts and drink containers were the most common items picked up last year.
Cans, bottles and plastic cups made up 34 per cent of the rubbish picked up in Victoria last year, while cigarette butts made up 23 per cent, an 11 per cent increase on the previous year.
Clean Up Australia Day chairman and founder Ian Kiernan AO said dropping cigarette butts was unacceptable behaviour.
“Smokers seem to think that just because cigarette butts are a small item of rubbish they don’t count, which is outrageous, especially in the quantities that we find them strewn about,” he said.
“I urge Victorians to put themselves in the picture in 2015 to clean up your local streets, parks, bushland and waterways ... to clean up Australia.”
Find a clean-up site near you at www.cleanup australia.org.au