In 2023, the Keep Australia Beautiful Council called on everyone to ‘Keep it Beautiful’ and take part by picking up litter in their local communities.
More than eight clean-up activities took place across the State from Kununurra in the north to Mandurah in the south to celebrate Keep Australia Beautiful Week, covering land, beach and river.
Every August, for more than 50 years, Keep Australia Beautiful has been educating Australians about litter, waste and other key environmental issues during KAB Week. The organisation aims to engage and challenge the community, while encouraging long-term change behaviour that can continue well after the week has finished.
KAB Week launched today in Mandurah with a clean-up at Henson Reserve in Silver Sands, led the Coastal Waste Warriors (CWW), who have conducted more than 40 clean-ups in the past four-and-a-half years, removing 108,268 items weighing 4,292kg from the Mandurah coastline and waterways. Containers for Change, also partnered with KABC at its events during the week.
KABC staff conducted a litter audit and entered the findings into the Tangaroa Blue Australian Marine Debris Initiative (AMDI) database. KABC is also encouraging Western Australians to register a clean-up event through the Adopt-a-Spot program.
Keep Australia Beautiful Council WA Chair Michael Aspinall said he encouraged all Western Australians to consider how they could participate in KAB Week, and be role models for their families, friends and communities.
The actions of volunteers are vital, both in the metropolitan area and across the regions. The result of our wonderful volunteers time and efforts to clean-ups, shows a notable difference being made to the environment, in particular, a reduction in bird and fish entanglement, their ingestion of litter and exposure to chemicals and toxins.
“We also need to ensure we keep data and report on litter, which KABC does through its partnership with the Tangaroa Blue Australian Marine Debris Initiative.