Ever thought that a coffee cup or cigarette butt would be worth something? Well, at the Seaside Scavenge they are.
On the 24th February, from 10 am to 2 pm, White Sands Park at Huskisson will be transformed into a beach cleaning haven thanks to the trash-trading action that will take place at the Seaside Scavenge.
Families are welcome at the Seaside Scavenge. Photo Credit: Seaside Scavenge
The Seaside Scavenge is a community initiative that began in Sydney in 2013 and has since expanded up and down the east coast of Australia, between Mornington Peninsula and Magnetic Island. It has attracted over 1,500 people who have collected over 2,400kg of litter, over 50,000 cigarette butts and donated over 2,350kg of second-hand goods. Finally, it's making a debut on the South Coast.
At the Seaside Scavenge market. Photo Credit: Seaside Scavenge
Seaside Scavenge turns litter into a currency that is used to purchase pre-loved clothes and goods that have been donated by the wider Jervis Bay community. The clean-up starts with participants scouring the beach to remove the trash, then they are rewarded with a token for every 10 pieces collected. This currency can then be used in the pop-up seaside market.
Get your memento photo taken. Photo Credit: Seaside Scavenge
Shoalhaven Shire as well as many local businesses such as
Trees Adventure,
Vincentia Village Produce Market and Huskisson Yoga have donated prizes for the participants who collect the most litter, most butts, most straws and who 'scavenges' the furthest.
You can find out more prize details on the
Facebook event page.
You never know what you will find. Photo Credit: Seaside Scavenge
There are 8-13 million tonnes of rubbish dumped annually into the ocean. Seaside Scavenge is an innovative and creative way to draw an unaware audience's attention to litter. There will be a number of speakers, musicians and upcycling workshops throughout the day promoting plastic-free lifestyle alternatives and marine debris pollution awareness. '
We want to open people's eyes to waterway pollution and offer an outlet to tackle the problem together. More importantly, we want to demonstrate how to easily cut-back on consumption of single-use plastic and fashion' says Founder and Director, Anna Jane Linke.
How many straws will you find? Photo Credit: Seaside Scavenge
In Australia, 1 billion coffee cups end up in landfill every year. Seaside Scavenge offers local businesses the opportunity to take the Plastic-Free Pledge for the day which commits them to avoiding single-use items like straws, cups, food containers, bottles and plastic bags. A spread of local Huskisson Businesses have already taken the pledge.
'Every 10 minutes, Australians send 6 tonnes of textiles to landfill. By setting up pop-up markets with goods donated by the Jervis Bay community we want to encourage people to look beyond the price tag and go second-hand' says Anna Jane.
Sorting and counting trash to record data. Photo Credit: Seaside Scavenge
For participants to earn their litter currency they must separate and sort the litter collected into recyclables and non-recyclables. Then it must be recorded so that the data can contribute to the Australia Marine Debris Database managed by Tangaroa Blue. The Seaside Scavenge on the South Coast is taking place as part of a wider litter and waste education program called Travelling Trash Troupe. This is a collaborative project between
Plastic Pollutions Solutions and
Boomerang Bags, who will also be present at the event to talk to participants and host Sew-A-Thon.
If you have any quality goods clothes, books, accessories, shoes etc. for this pop-up market that you would like to donate, please drop them at Huskisson Primary School Monday - Friday 8 am to 3:30pm. Or if you need to do it outside those hours, get in touch with the event organiser. You can contact them through the
Seaside Scavenge website or social media pages –
Facebook. Or for more information contact: Anna Jane Linke on 0408 630 667 or ajlinke@seasidescavenge.org
