Students remove 320kgs of rubbish from mangroves

Students from Brisbane Water Secondary College Woy Woy campus have removed 320kgs of waste from around the mangroves near Woy Woy Railway Station as part of a recent Clean4Shore expedition.

Students teamed up with Clean4Shore guides on November 8 to tackle the area.

According to Clean4Shore facilitator Mr Graham Johnson, students were surprised to learn the mangroves commonly saw litter build up from stormwater run-off and roadside littering.

"Litter from stormwater on Kariong Rd, plus Woy Woy Town Centre and the Umina drain system enter this bay without and filtration resulting in the vast amounts of waste that tidal eddies deposit in the mangroves," Mr Johnson said.

Mr Johnson said alcohol cans and bottles, large amounts of soft and hard plastic and small pieces of polystyrene were consistent along the 700m of foreshore cleaned.

Larger items collected included car tyres, deck shading, buckets, oyster baskets, hardwood decking timber and a small damaged tender.

"On the southern end of the mangroves, a dumped motor vehicle was also located, plus damaged camping gear.

"It was a very full load in the barge as the high tide allowed access and a quick departure, with a group off-load at Lions Park Woy Woy.

"It was an outstanding effort by the students, and their supervising staff, with 27 very full bags collected and 320kgs deposited at the Woy Woy tip," Mr Graham said.

SOURCE:

Social media, 8 Nov 2019

Graham Johnson, Clean4Shore