Brisbane Kitesurfers do their bit to clean up Australia
That's a lot of rubbish piled up near the bin!
The most popular of the Brisbane metro beaches, Brighton can hold up to 100 kite surfers in the peak of summer. Luckily, the beach is relatively useless for the usual sun bathing, beach ball throwing beach go-ers which makes it an incredibly safe place to kite board, but it also makes kite surfers entirely responsible for the state of the beach. Normally it's pretty good, in fact the local kite club make a huge effort to rejuvenate the grass and keep the weeds from growing.
Despite the clubs efforts however, the recent rain and minor flooding has pushed a large amount of debris from the Brisbane river and Hays inlet catchment onto the shorelines at Brighton and Sandgate. It's always mostly sticks and logs, but in amongst all the natural rubbish there are the usual chip packets and other rubbish that won't break down naturally. This was the focus for the Brisbane kite club members who got up bright and early this Sunday and completely wiped the beach clean. Now, there's not a stick, chip packet, log or cigarette butt on the beach - and it looks fantastic.
Clean up Australia day is a national effort to help make Australia as beautiful as it should be. Every year, thousands of volunteers don a pair of gloves, and grab a bag at one of several hundred registered sites around the country. The result is fantastic, and not only leaves the beach clean and tidy, but promotes the idea of picking up rubbish when we're out and about. Check out their website for more details on the event, it's on in March every year.
Legana, TAS
