More than 200 people went on the hunt for rubbish as part of the Seaside Scavenge at Lake Illawarra’s Reddall Reserve on Sunday, November 6.

The event was a joint initiative of the Shellharbour and Wollongong city councils aimed at trying to engage the community in sustainability and the plastic pollution crisis. 

The charity group Take 3 For The Sea organised the large-scale community clean-up, which uses a novel way to reward people for their efforts: for every 10 pieces of trash participants collect, they receive a token, which is then used as “cash” to buy books, clothes, and toys from a market of pre-loved goods, or a small serving of chips at the kiosk on the day.

Hannah Regan, event manager for Take 3 For The Sea, said: “Today has been a huge success. We've had about 200 people move through the events so far, and we're only about half-way through.” 

Sustainability and plastics pollution are issues Hannah takes to heart.

“ I grew up near the ocean and waterways, and looking after those spaces are really important to me, and it's devastating to see the impacts that plastic pollution has on those ecosystems and the wildlife within those ecosystems.”

Hannah said Take 3 For The Sea aimed to create simple solutions to something that seemed like a very complex problem.

“We want everyone to just take three pieces of rubbish with them wherever they are, whether that's in a park or by the ocean or in the outback, because we're also interconnected and our health relies on ocean health, so we need to make sure that we're protecting that.”

Accompanied by mellow beats and beautiful weather, lots of Illawarra families joined in the day’s clean-up mission.

Professional bodyboarder, Take 3 For The Sea ambassador and Seaside Scavenge volunteer on the day, Lilly Pollard, said she’d received many buckets filled to the brim with rubbish.  

“We've got mostly families coming down so far this morning, so parents and bunch of kids coming down and the kids are getting right into it,” the Shellharbour local said.

A steady stream of rubbish-filled buckets were brought to be sorted on the day and there was a wide variety of litter, she said. 

“Plastics are big ones, cigarette butts empty cans and bottles and bottle caps and stuff like that. Sort of a big array. We've got a mud flap off someone's car today so far too. 

“So it's a bit random around here, but it's awesome seeing the efforts.”

Hannah said if people would like a Seaside Scavenge in their local area they should contact Take 3 and their local council.