Report courtesy of the 4WD Adventurers' club of South Australia

The 2005 Clean up Australia effort on the Coorong was splendid. We actually ran the trip one week after the official Australia wide date. Adventurers Club managed to poll 11 members to the event. We were joined by several people from Central Hills Club, 2 Friends of the Coorong and a great showing from Jeep Club with around 20 members. With consultation with Karren Laudenbach the Senior Ranger, John Caldecott and I organised the above groups. Nissan Club were also at the Coorong working further South around the 28 Mile Crossing.

Our groups broke up into three units, equally distributing trailers and mixing clubs together. Saturday rubbish pick up began around 11 AM and finished around 4 or 5 PM. It was a rather hot afternoon and the Jeep people staying at nearby Gemini downs appreciated the showers and facilities back there. Most of the rubbish bags ended up at 42 Mile camp area for counting. This also allowed us to re-organise and free up trailers for the next day.

Saturday night at 42 Mile camp area was a real winner. All groups including several from Nissan and the Park Ranger, Karren met for a catered BBQ provided by local caterer Carol Thompson. Any suspicions about the value of the $12 fee were soon buried under big plates of meat, fresh salads and extras. Desert, tea and coffee was also included and there was no clearing up after for us. Around 50 people opted for the BBQ. This was a good spin off for the locals as profit would be going in to a building fund to provide the local school with a new playground.

Rubbish collection continued on Sunday morning to cover the 42 Mile to Tea Tree section of beach. John and I sorted out how all the rubbish bags would be carted to the Meningie dump. Local identity, David Dadd was at the Meningie dump to direct us. We tipped most bags out, so that the bags could be re used and any of the easy recyclables could be separated.

Statistics on the exercise were a little hard to gather. The grand total was 158 bags. This includes Nissans 45 bags. The 113 bags from our lot were picked up from 42 Mile Crossing and North covering 37 Km of beach and fore dune, i.e. about 7.4 sq Km (not necessarily one continuous block). Additionally there were a couple of 6 x 4 trailers level loaded with various large objects including rubber, foam, broken chairs, hunks of steel etc. Another trailer worth of wood went to a local property. About 70 persons associated with 4WD clubs participated in the weekend. I made an organised attempt with a strategy and instructions to sample the rubbish. Our widely dispersed eager rubbish collectors were mainly interested in the picking up part. Only one bag was surveyed. Rope, plastic bags and plastic fragments were the most common. I think the bottle and can items count has stayed down since we last collected in 2003. I don’t recall any real funky finds or treasures in the rubbish haul this time.

Thanks every one for turning up and doing your little bit to keep the Coorong a clean space for all life there. Also thanks to SA Association of 4WD Clubs, Meningie Council and National Parks in encouraging the cleanup effort. I have some very positive feed back on the event, with at least one other club keen to participate along similar lines next year.