For approximately the 8th year running, as part of the Clean-up Australia Day program, the Tuggeranong Lake Carers with the support of the Tuggeranong Community Council, the Southern ACT Catchment Group, the Tuggeranong Sea Scouts and the Tuggeranong Rowing Club organised a Lake Tuggeranong clean-up on Sunday the 7th March
Participants registered at the Lake Tuggeranong Sea Scout Hall as well as behind the Tuggeranong Library.
We had 58 people register on the day, of which approximately fifteen were Cubs and their leaders from the Tuggeranong Sea Scouts, who took to the water to clean-up the lake itself. The rest were local residents plus some from further afield who wanted to participate and make a cleaner Lake Tuggeranong. We were visited by ABC TV who reported on the event on Canberra ABC news on Sunday night the 7th March.
Following the clean-up some of the participants got together and had a BBQ, put on by the Tuggeranong Community Council (see first picture).
Sixteen bags of rubbish and eleven bags of recycles were collected and returned to the Scout Hall. After 1pm the scouts took a trailer around to pick up on any additional bags from designated points so the total count ended up as eighteen bags of rubbish and seventeen of recycling a total of thirty five bags, plus three shopping trollies, a bike wheel and other bits and pieces.
It was commented on by people who have been participating in this event for many years that the number of bags of rubbish collected compared to the number of people participating has been declining over the years. We believe this is because of:
- The Container Deposit scheme operating on the ACT for the last couple of years
- People are more aware of throwing rubbish around due to ongoing events such as this – we also organise a Spring clean-up and general awareness raising
- Maybe because we have had rain and there is an overflow on the dam at the end of the lake some rubbish might be just washed over the dam wall onto the Murrumbidgee
- Maybe as the water level is up some rubbish might be buried in reeds around the lake
Everybody was most enthusiastic. It was a very successful day.
Glenys Patulny
Convenor
Tuggeranong Lake Carers
