A visit to Wollongong Harbour by a mother and daughter on Sunday resulted in them both jumping into the water to remove four bags of rubbish.
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So concerned about what they saw and the impact if could have on marine life Catherine McMillan and Eliza Andrews also started a petition calling for a floating SEABIN to be installed.
When they ventured to the foreshore on a glorious sunny afternoon the Lotus Health & Wellbeing Centre owner/manager and her daughter were both horrified by the amount of rubbish in the water.
Eliza told her mum how she was worried about the “poor fish”.
“So we went home, grabbed my big surfboard and got into the water to clean it up. Eliza held the bag while I picked up bottles, straws, styrofoam, plastic bags, lolly wrappers, plastic cutlery and so much more,” Ms McMillan said.
On returning home Ms McMillan shared what happened on social media.
Many people were moved by Eliza’s concerns for the fish.
But Ms McMillan also enjoyed an enormous response to her thoughts about how Wollongong Harbour might benefit from a new Australian invention.
Her suggestion for the city to consider installing a floating SEABIN to collect all the rubbish was well received.
Ms McMillan thinks a SEABIN could be located in the same corner of the harbour where she and Eliza found most of the rubbish.
“I've just created a petition to begin to raise awareness and to see if we can get Wollongong to be the first harbour in Australia with a SEABIN. They are being launched this Summer,” she said.
“The SEABIN is a floating bin that sucks in rubbish from the surface of the water. We would like to see Wollongong be the first harbour in Australia to take advantage of this incredible, new technology to keep our harbour clean at all times.”
The petition already has 574 signatures.
Ms McMillan said she knows Wollongong City Council staff work hard and do a good job keeping the area clean but they can’t be there 24 hours a day and they can’t stop rubbish blowing into the harbour or entering coastal waters through storm drains.
She thinks the SEABIN is something that would make their job easier and help the foreshore look great for locals and visitors.
And be great for marine life.
Ms McMillan is going to leave the online petition open for about a month before presenting it to Wollongong City Council.
Greg Ellis
Almost four decades in electronic, print and digital media. A writer, presenter, emcee, photographer and videographer with degrees in business management, marketing and human resources and tertiary qualifications in photography.
Almost four decades in electronic, print and digital media. A writer, presenter, emcee, photographer and videographer with degrees in business management, marketing and human resources and tertiary qualifications in photography.
