Environmentally conscious Ballarat residents will come together on Sunday to clean up the city's parks, waterways, streets and reserves.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
More than 20 clean up events are registered in Ballarat for Clean Up Australia Day.
Resident Col Palmer has hosted a Clean Up Australia Day event at the Yarrowee River in Redan for the past 10 years.
It is bewildering. How can this happen? When will we ever learn?
- Col Palmer, Redan clean up organiser
While the amount of litter at the site is not improving, he said it was heartening to see more people join the clean up each year.
"The group of people coming each year is bigger, so there are more people participating in the clean up," he said.
"But there is always litter and the amount of litter is not improving. Nothing has changed in that way."
Mr Palmer said plastic drink bottles was the most common item collected from the site in previous years, followed by food packaging including cup lids, straws, packets and wrapping.
"It is bewildering. How can this happen? When will we ever learn?," he said.
"There is a small percentage of people that don't get the message or don't care.... Ultimately it finishes up in the river and the sea."
RELATED COVERAGE: Frustration drives action from Sunday Sweep to clean up Ballarat
Mr Palmer said he was hoping to see around 30 people get involved in the clean up at the Yarrowee River in Redan this year, including young people and Scout groups that had joined in previous years.
Watch the video about Clean Up Australia Day below.
He said the number of clean ups registered in Ballarat and the number of people getting involved showed many people do care about reducing litter.
"They come down and they are really enthusiastic. People care and they participate," he said.
"I do hope one day I won't have to run this clean up, but it is going to take a lot of change.
"I think we are going to have to change a whole lot of packaging requirements. It has to be stopped at the source.
"There is probably more opportunity for more litter traps too before it ends up in difficult to get places."
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews announced on Monday a container deposit scheme would be introduced in Victoria by 2023.
Many hope this would provide an incentive for the collection of bottles and cans and ultimately reduce litter in the environment.
Details of the scheme are yet to be announced. Refunds are given for the return of beverage containers to depots for recycling in schemes in other jurisdictions of Australia.
Visit cleanupaustraliaday.org.au/ for more information about how to get involved in Clean Up Australia Day in Ballarat.
Have you signed up to The Courier's variety of news emails? You can register below and make sure you are up to date with everything that's happening in Ballarat.
