Recently Sunshine Beach State School celebrated the 30th year of the annual Clean Up Australia, Sunshine Beach students did their bit to ensure that their school is free from rubbish.
Learners from Prep to Year 6 joined in to help keep Sunshine Beach an environmentally friendly and clean place to be.
The environment is particularly important as the school borders Noosa National Park which means the school is home to an array of native plants and animals.
It is also a place that has a shared passion about its permaculture garden and outdoor learning spaces including the newly completed nature play space where kids can enjoy climbing up and down rocks, logs and stone pavers.
Families with pre-prep learners are invited to join our prep transition officer Bec Kennett, Di and Glossy Bob to experience a range of environmental activities including making succulent paper bark planters and learning the importance of recycling caring for our environment at the weekly Bush Playgroup.
Clean Up Australia started thirty years ago when Ian Kiernan had a simple idea to make a difference in his own backyard.
Ian who was an avid sailor, was shocked and disgusted by the pollution and rubbish that he continually encountered in the oceans of the world.
Taking matters into his own hands, Ian organised a community event with the support of a committee of friends, including co-founder Kim McKay and this has now become the nation’s largest community-based environmental event.
This simple idea ignited an enthusiasm and desire among the local communities to get involved and make a difference.
Since Clean Up Australia Day started in 1990 and as part of Clean Up Australia activities, more than 17.7 million Australians have donated their time, more than 35 million hours of volunteer time has been donated to benefit our environment and more than 365,000 ute loads of rubbish have been removed.
Clean Up Australia inspires and empowers communities to clean up, fix up and conserve our environment.
Environmental leader Priya, who attends Sunshine Beach State School, said it’s good for the whole community.
“We’re lucky that we don’t have much rubbish at our school. It’s good that we have days like ‘Clean Up Australia Day’ so that our whole community can work together to keep our area free of rubbish, it’s also important to pick up the plastic from our beaches.”
Of course, Australia’s waste challenges can’t be solved in just one day, so over the past three decades, Clean Up Australia has evolved into an organisation that works with community, government and businesses to provide practical solutions to help us all live more sustainably every day of the year.
Today the focus of Clean Up Australia is as much on preventing rubbish entering our environment as it is removing what has already accumulated.
