The Werribee River Association (WRA) is very pleased to announce that it has been selected as the winner of the Tidy Towns & Cities Sustainability Awards in the litter category. This award, given by Keep Australia Beautiful, on Monday 28 October at an awards ceremony, recognises the vital work that the Association carries out to combat litter in the Werribee River and its catchment waterways.
The Werribee River Litter Blitz program is a powerhouse of community activism, using a multi-pronged campaign, across education, advocacy and direct action, to tackle pollution entering waterways. The program also supports community resilience and social development, enabling communities to work together, to solve local issues, chiefly focussed in the City of Wyndham.
The Association has played a role in clean ups since it was first formed in 1981, but this work has rapidly scaled up over the past decade. There are now 5 clean up groups conducting monthly cleans; and individuals also conduct cleans and report this work in using the Litter Stopper App, a database that is then shared with government. The average volume of litter that is collected annually and recorded on Litter Stopper, under the Werribee River Association Litter Blitz program is between 5-6 tonne.
The Association’s education work extends to schools, supporting students with their own litter audits and actions, and giving presentations to community groups.
By working in partnership with other agencies, the Association has also joined multiple campaigns, to reduce litter at source, and to improve the amenities to contain litter.
The Association carries out the Litter Blitz program in collaboration with community, Wyndham City, supported by Melbourne Water and other key partners such as EPA.
Litter leaders and volunteers Lisa Field, Nick Alderson, June and Colin Styles and George Seitz were pleased to represent that Association at the awards night, conducted at South Wharf, on the banks of the Yarra River.
The Association is now working on a Litter Action Plan for the Werribee River.
For more information and to get involved, please contact us via admin@werribeeriver.org.au.