Drain Buddy Project highlights important message to keep our streets clean!
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An interesting look into the debris found in our local stormwater drains is all part of a fantastic community project aimed at creating awareness of what kind of waste is entering our region’s waterways.
Known as the Drain Buddy Project, the project works in partnership with Fitzroy Basin Association Inc. (FBA), Cleanwater Group, the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority’s Local Marine Advisory Committees (LMAC), Livingstone Shire Council, Capricorn Coast Landcare Group (CCLG) and the community, to educate residents in the importance of reducing waste and the negative impacts of littering on our environment.
A Drain Buddy is a heavy-duty basket placed in stormwater drains to collect matter including litter, organic matter and sediment.
Nine baskets were installed in Yeppoon’s Town Centre mid-2019 thanks to a Local Action Community Reef Protection grant, funded by the partnership between the Australian Government’s Reef Trust and the Great Barrier Reef Foundation.
FBA, with support from several stakeholder groups, has audited the baskets every 12 weeks.
“Calling upon local residents to give up their free time to sort through 8,696 pieces of litter amounting to a total of 200 kilograms is a big ask and a dirty task,” said FBA Community Participation Officer Bethlea Bell.
“But once again, FBA has been rapt at its volunteers’ commitment to the local environment.”
Portfolio holder of Water, Waste Management and the Environment, and Reef Guardian Champion, Councillor Andrea Friend, said it was important for everyone to ‘Stop and Think before you Throw and Go!’
“This project is a wonderful collaborative approach between Council as a proud Reef Guardian Council, and the key stakeholder groups involved and I commend them all for their dedication towards helping to keep our local environment clean while continually raising awareness on key marine debris issues,” Cr Friend said.
“Year 6 students from Reef Guardian School, Farnborough State School, were so enthusiastic when hearing of this project that they raised $1,000 for the purchase of two additional traps. This is an incredible effort and I highly commend them for their commitment to our environment! This indicates to me that our future is held in strong and capable hands.”
Capricorn Coast Landcare Group and Envirolink Centre Co-ordinator Sabrina Burke said an important part of this project is sharing the Drain Buddies findings with the community, identifying commonly littered items and then tracing them back to the sources in an effort to prevent them in the first place.
“CCLG is excited to partner again with FBA in the coming year to help organise and foster further waste reduction in the Shire via this project,” Sabrina said.
Drain Buddy FAST FACTS
700 cigarette butts were retrieved from one drain buddy trap in Yeppoon within a 12 week period.
FBA is asking the public to carry with them an airtight container such as a small recycled chewing gum tin or alternatively you may purchase these portable ashtrays.
Drain Buddy audits have revealed that cigarette butts account for 50 percent of litter in Yeppoon, Gladstone and Rockhampton, with the project saving 11,303 cigarette butts from washing down our drains and into the Great Barrier Reef.
The data surfacing from this project since mid-2019 has revealed three key litter hotspots in each of the city centres.
In Yeppoon, Anzac Parade in the drain nearest to James St, collected a disgusting 710 cigarette butts.
In Yeppoon the group recovered: 143 plastic film remnants 56 straws 118 pieces of confetti 143 confectionary wrappers 1 urinal diffuser 1 hearing aid 1 vomit bag