City Services crews are preparing for Clean Up Australia Day, the nation’s largest community-based environmental event, which will be held on Sunday 3 March.

“The ACT Government has proudly supported Clean Up Australia Day for more than two decades,” Tara Cheyne, Minister for City Services, said. “On top of their own daily litter picking and cleaning efforts, every year after the event, our City Services crews pick up 500 to 600 bags of rubbish collected during the registered activities across the ACT, and arrange for their disposal.”

The ACT Government will host two sites of its own. Crews will be along the Mortimer Lewis Drive side of Lake Tuggeranong and west Diddams Close at Lake Ginninderra. These popular areas often have lots of litter.

“I know Canberrans care deeply for the environment and share a desire of wanting to live more sustainably,” Ms Cheyne said. “I warmly welcome the community to join us at these sites, get to know some of the City Services crew members and the pride they have for their work, and have conversations about how we each have a role in valuing and supporting our beautiful environment.”

The public can meet at the Learn to Ride Centre on Mortimer Lewis Drive, Greenway, or at the Diddams Close west car park (boat ramp end), Belconnen. The crews will clean up those sites from 9am to noon. A barbecue will be hosted close to each site, and will be free for volunteers and City Services crews.

Alternatively, Ms Cheyne suggested, the community can pitch in at one of the more than 50 community-hosted events being held across Canberra. Visit the Clean Up Australia Day website to find and register for an event near you.

“More than 34 years ago, Clean Up Australia Day was born out of a desire for the community to mobilise in removing rubbish and pollutants,” Ms Cheyne said.

“Every year … the community join[s] in to help support the environment they enjoy. These events are also a great opportunity to understand litter’s extent and impact, and reflect on how we can all live more sustainably every day of the year.”

Jenny Geddes, CEO of Clean Up Australia, will be in Canberra to celebrate and support Clean Up Australia Day.

“It’s a privilege to be joining groups in our nation’s capital and just wonderful to see Canberrans continue to get behind the cause and take practical action to protect and improve our precious environment,” Ms Geddes said.

“I sincerely thank the ACT Government for its support and celebrate everyone who plans on getting involved.”

Ms Cheyne said that the ACT Government was conscious about littering and the negative impact it has on our city’s amenity.

City Services regularly picks up litter from shopping centre car parks, town and district parks, and arterial roads across Canberra. 

More than 160 lakes and ponds are cleaned at least six times each a year, removing litter and debris that is floating in the water, washed into the shoreline, or trapped in the reeds.

Higher use areas such as lakes or waterways next to town and district parks are cleaned weekly. Sometimes, they are also cleaned after major storms.

“Our crews take great pride in this work, but their efforts can be undone quickly, with litter dropped, abandoned, or dumped on a daily basis,” Ms Cheyne warned. 

“While removing rubbish that’s been accumulated is always a priority for our Government, prevention is even more important – and that’s where we all have a responsibility.”

• If you are unsure whether an item can be recycled, or where to take it, recyclopaedia has the answer.
• Standalone households and apartment blocks can receive a FREE bulky waste pick-up.
• Recycling drop off centres in Belconnen, Gungahlin, Mitchell, Phillip and Tuggeranong are for excess household recycling and large cardboard boxes.
• The two resource management centres accept a range of materials including e-waste. hazardous items, and waste to landfill.
• There are 22 container deposit scheme return points.

The ACT Government will collect abandoned shopping trolleys next month – “a blitz,” Ms Cheyne said.

Retailers will be given at least two days’ notice that a trolley collection sweep will be conducted in their area. 

City Services will remove any trolleys that retailers have not collected before the notified collection day. The retailer will be charged $149 for removal and storage costs before they can collect the trolley, and for destroying and recycling costs if they do not retrieve the trolley. Payment of removal and storage costs is compulsory, and does not dependent on whether or not the retailer collects the trolley.