Zero Litter in Georges River is a campaign aimed at preserving the health of a waterway that starts at Appin and finishes at Botany Bay.
The Georges Riverkeeper project has just won the Litter Prevention/Clean Waterways category at the Keep Australia Beautiful sustainable cities awards.
The initiative involved upgrading critical stormwater infrastructure – gross pollutant traps – at five sites in participating council areas, auditing 72 traps, improving operations across 2,884 hectares and developing a best practice guide for the stormwater industry.
Schools and community education was also a key component, empowering 564 primary school students to educate their communities about litter prevention through curriculum aligned lessons, video messages, and anti litter artworks.
Augmented reality experiences near artworks enabled local residents to interact with Zero, a long neck turtle, one of the native animals threatened by river pollution.
It was also a portal to online information and educational videos developed by Georges Riverkeeper as part of the Zero Litter in Georges River project.
“The Zero Litter in Georges River project uses practical solutions to help curb litter flow into the Georges River including improving the effectiveness of gross pollutant traps which are one of the current ‘end-of-line’ solutions to help stop waste from entering waterways,’’ says Georges Riverkeeper program manager, Scott Reyes.
“It is also about creating a best practice guide for councils to use in relation to these devices, in addition to educating the community about stormwater pollution and how to prevent litter from ending up in street drains.”
Georges Riverkeeper, six local councils including Campbelltown, Liverpool and Fairfield, six primary schools and their communities joined forces to reduce litter entering the Georges River through stormwater.
Learn more about the Zero Litter in Georges River project by visiting zerolitter.georgesriver.org.au
