It’s that time of year again—roll up your sleeves and get ready for the Great Northern Clean Up! An event of Clean Up Australia, this great campaign has been running since 2009 during the more temperate months of August, September and October for communities in the tropical North. Since it started, more than 30,000 volunteers have removed the equivalent of 2,548 ute loads of rubbish from 1,147 registered locations.
Why we’re cleaning up
One of the main reasons to participate in cleaning up now is preparing for storm season: it’s important to collect as much rubbish as we can from our environment before the onset of monsoon and cyclone seasons, because it can be caught up in the wild weather and make its way into our waterways where it causes pollution and havoc for our flora and fauna.
It’s also the perfect time to deal with some of our recent issues. Since COVID, our online shopping rate has dramatically increased, and with it, so has packaging—we need to both reduce the amount of packaging we’re using, and recover larger percentages of it for recycling. We’re also targeting the most abundant plastic litter item in the world: the 8.9 billion cigarette butts dropped in Australia each year.
Getting involved in clean up
You can join or even create a Clean Up event, whether you’d like to do it through your business or the community. You can find more information on events here: https://www.cleanup.org.au
If you can’t participate in a Clean Up, you can still participate in supporting our environment by targeting some of the more pressing issues in the community and in your workplace. You can help by:
- Refusing unnecessary packaging, and choosing recycled and compostable packaging where it’s available
- Using paper decorations, pom poms, bubble machines, flags, banners and pinwheels instead of balloons
- Buying a sustainable reusable coffee cup instead of using single-use takeaway coffee cups
- Recycling batteries (in stores like supermarkets and Officeworks) and buying rechargeable batteries where possible
- Using reusable bags instead of plastic bags when you do your grocery shopping, and REDcycle your soft plastics
- Avoiding fast fashion, recycling textiles (in stores like H&M), and opting for sustainable textiles instead
- Reducing E-waste by buying less, and recycling old items (in stores like supermarkets, Officeworks, IKEA, and Australia Post)
- Using sustainable drink bottles instead of plastic water bottles
- Choosing products carrying the Australasian recycling label
- Reducing food waste by meal planning, worm farming, composting, storing food better, and getting a FOGO (food organics, garden organics) bin
- Participating in the circular economy by repurposing where possible
Remember, even the little things can make a big impact!
Staying safe during clean up
At Pryme, we’re for workers as much as we’re for the environment—that’s why we supply a full range of sustainable sun protection products to keep our workers safe while they’re participating in Clean Ups. It’s important to remember that even in the cooler months, workers in Queensland are exposed to UV radiation that can cause skin damage, heatstroke, and dehydration, which is why you’ll find sun protection PPE and environmentally friendly sunblocks on our website alongside a range of delicious and effective Sqwincher hydration solutions. Contact us anytime for more information on any of our products, and we’ll be happy to help you and your workers stay safe while you’re working to clean up our beautiful country.
