Celebrity conservationist, Marc Jacewicz, will host a Clean Up Australia session at Bateau Bay Beach.
Better known as The Travelling Bushman, over the past 20 years the The Entrance based wildlife warrior has travelled the world to share his love for all things creepy, crawly and deadly, but the animal expert is just as passionate about protecting the environment and wants to see locals turn up in force at his clean up event, which kicks off from 10am on January 30.
Jacewicz said he decided to host the event to bring local attention to the issue of plastic pollution in our oceans.
“100,000 mammals die every year as a result of plastic pollution and that’s why I wanted to hold this great little community clean up.
“Bateau Bay Beach is a beautiful spot, but over summer, it gets a real flogging from tourists who leave behind all sorts of rubbish, so I thought this’d be a good way for the community to support our local wildlife and give back to our environment, because we’ve got such amazing wildlife everywhere you look on the Coast and they’re all impacted by this kind of thing,” Jacewicz said.
To help volunteers hit the ground running, Jacewicz said he’d secured 30 clean up kits from Clean Up Australia, with the kits going to the first 30 people who turn up on the day.
And to add a bit of competitiveness to the day, Jacewicz said the volunteer who picked up the most rubbish would win a little something special for their efforts.
“I’ll be putting up a gift card for the bottle shop or something along those lines to the volunteer who gets the biggest haul and I hope that’ll give everyone a little extra motivation,” Jacewicz said.
With the clean up kits covering all the essentials, Jacewicz said all volunteers will need to bring is their own water, face mask and sun protection.
The wildlife warrior is also hoping that by hosting this event, he’ll inspire more locals to be a little more conscious of their green footprint.
“I’ve been a conservationist for 20 odd years, and this is something that means a lot to me, so I’d like it if this clean up day helped locals see how important it is to look after your own backyard.
“Even if you can’t come on the day, making a difference can be as easy as picking up a piece of rubbish at your local beach.
“It’s really not that hard.”
The Bateau Bay Beach clean up event will run from 10am to 1pm and volunteers are asked to meet in the car park before moving down to the beach.
Dilon Luke